Decoding the Global Debt Wave

The global economy, as it is, by now has witnessed four waves of debt accumulation over the last fifty years. The first three ended in a financial crisis, and caused massive economic downturns around the world. We are now in the middle of the fourth wave!

World Bank warned that the current wave could dwarf the first three.

Global debt topped $258 trillion in Q1 2020 (Source: IIF, BIS, IMF, National sources)

According to The Institute for International Finance (IIF), Global debt hits record high of 331% of GDP in Q1 2020 (vs. 320% in Q4 2019). Mature Markets like Canada, France and Norway saw the largest increases with Total Debt reaching 392% of GDP (vs. 380% in 2019). Debt in Emerging Markets (EM) also surged to over 230% of GDP (vs. 220% in 2019), largely driven by non-financial corporates in China.