Interest on government debt

The share of government revenue that goes to paying interest on its debt.

This is the interest a central government pays on its debt in a year, as a share of the revenue it collects: how much of every tax dollar goes to its lenders before it pays for anything else. It covers interest on bonds, loans and other debt, to lenders at home and abroad. It shows how heavy a debt is to carry, which the size of the debt alone does not: it also depends on interest rates and on how much the government collects. The IMF compiles the figures, and the World Bank publishes them.

• Economy
• Public finance
• Government debt
• World Bank
• Country
• Year