Line
Interest on Government Debt: the IMF's Outlook
General government net interest paid, % of GDP, history and the IMF's projection
3 of 5 series are above their level a year earlier·1 of 5 is at a five-year high
Palanor forecasts are off on this chart because it already shows the IMF's own forecast (dashed). We don't draw our forecast over a published one.
Plays the chart through its history. Pauses are where the data set a record or moved most.
Dashed: IMF forecast · Oct 2026, the source's own projection, not Palanor's. The latest reading, its standing and the change above read actual data only.
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, newest edition (named in the source line). Net interest paid is a Palanor calculation: the IMF's general government primary balance minus its overall balance, both as a share of GDP; the IMF does not publish it as a series. Recent years are often IMF estimates. Dashed: computed from the IMF's projected balances in that edition.
How the cost of government debt fell for two decades as rates dropped, jumped after 2022, and where the IMF's projected budgets put it over the next five years.
What this chart reads·10 series
Show allHide
- United States · General Government Net Interest Paid (Palanor calculation from IMF data)as “United States”latest 2025-12-31
- United States · General Government Net Interest Paid, IMF Projection (Palanor calculation from IMF data)as “United States, IMF projection”latest 2025-12-31
- Italy · General Government Net Interest Paid (Palanor calculation from IMF data)as “Italy”latest 2025-12-31
- Italy · General Government Net Interest Paid, IMF Projection (Palanor calculation from IMF data)as “Italy, IMF projection”latest 2025-12-31
- United Kingdom · General Government Net Interest Paid (Palanor calculation from IMF data)as “United Kingdom”latest 2025-12-31
- United Kingdom · General Government Net Interest Paid, IMF Projection (Palanor calculation from IMF data)as “United Kingdom, IMF projection”latest 2025-12-31
- France · General Government Net Interest Paid (Palanor calculation from IMF data)as “France”latest 2025-12-31
- France · General Government Net Interest Paid, IMF Projection (Palanor calculation from IMF data)as “France, IMF projection”latest 2025-12-31
- Japan · General Government Net Interest Paid (Palanor calculation from IMF data)as “Japan”latest 2025-12-31
- Japan · General Government Net Interest Paid, IMF Projection (Palanor calculation from IMF data)as “Japan, IMF projection”latest 2025-12-31
Sources·10 sources
Show allHide
United States · General Government Net Interest Paid (Palanor calculation from IMF data). Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026 (the IMF's published database file, WEOOct2026all.xlsx). Transformation by Palanor: net interest paid is the IMF's general government primary balance minus its overall balance (net lending/borrowing), both % of GDP as published in the same edition. The IMF does not publish this series itself. Provided by the IMF "as is" and available free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor.
United States · General Government Net Interest Paid, IMF Projection (Palanor calculation from IMF data). Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026 (the IMF's published database file, WEOOct2026all.xlsx). Transformation by Palanor: net interest paid is the IMF's general government primary balance minus its overall balance (net lending/borrowing), both % of GDP as published in the same edition. The IMF does not publish this series itself. Provided by the IMF "as is" and available free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor.
Italy · General Government Net Interest Paid (Palanor calculation from IMF data). Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026 (the IMF's published database file, WEOOct2026all.xlsx). Transformation by Palanor: net interest paid is the IMF's general government primary balance minus its overall balance (net lending/borrowing), both % of GDP as published in the same edition. The IMF does not publish this series itself. Provided by the IMF "as is" and available free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor.
Italy · General Government Net Interest Paid, IMF Projection (Palanor calculation from IMF data). Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026 (the IMF's published database file, WEOOct2026all.xlsx). Transformation by Palanor: net interest paid is the IMF's general government primary balance minus its overall balance (net lending/borrowing), both % of GDP as published in the same edition. The IMF does not publish this series itself. Provided by the IMF "as is" and available free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor.
United Kingdom · General Government Net Interest Paid (Palanor calculation from IMF data). Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026 (the IMF's published database file, WEOOct2026all.xlsx). Transformation by Palanor: net interest paid is the IMF's general government primary balance minus its overall balance (net lending/borrowing), both % of GDP as published in the same edition. The IMF does not publish this series itself. Provided by the IMF "as is" and available free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor.
United Kingdom · General Government Net Interest Paid, IMF Projection (Palanor calculation from IMF data). Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026 (the IMF's published database file, WEOOct2026all.xlsx). Transformation by Palanor: net interest paid is the IMF's general government primary balance minus its overall balance (net lending/borrowing), both % of GDP as published in the same edition. The IMF does not publish this series itself. Provided by the IMF "as is" and available free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor.
France · General Government Net Interest Paid (Palanor calculation from IMF data). Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026 (the IMF's published database file, WEOOct2026all.xlsx). Transformation by Palanor: net interest paid is the IMF's general government primary balance minus its overall balance (net lending/borrowing), both % of GDP as published in the same edition. The IMF does not publish this series itself. Provided by the IMF "as is" and available free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor.
France · General Government Net Interest Paid, IMF Projection (Palanor calculation from IMF data). Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026 (the IMF's published database file, WEOOct2026all.xlsx). Transformation by Palanor: net interest paid is the IMF's general government primary balance minus its overall balance (net lending/borrowing), both % of GDP as published in the same edition. The IMF does not publish this series itself. Provided by the IMF "as is" and available free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor.
Japan · General Government Net Interest Paid (Palanor calculation from IMF data). Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026 (the IMF's published database file, WEOOct2026all.xlsx). Transformation by Palanor: net interest paid is the IMF's general government primary balance minus its overall balance (net lending/borrowing), both % of GDP as published in the same edition. The IMF does not publish this series itself. Provided by the IMF "as is" and available free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor.
Japan · General Government Net Interest Paid, IMF Projection (Palanor calculation from IMF data). Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026 (the IMF's published database file, WEOOct2026all.xlsx). Transformation by Palanor: net interest paid is the IMF's general government primary balance minus its overall balance (net lending/borrowing), both % of GDP as published in the same edition. The IMF does not publish this series itself. Provided by the IMF "as is" and available free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor.
Charts are drawn from Palanor's signal library and recomputed from source data on every view. Transformations (changes, indexing, year-on-year rates) are Palanor's.