New Zealand · Government Debt · % GDP

## What this measures

Everything New Zealand's general government owes — central, state, local and social security — measured gross, as a share of the year's GDP.

## Why it matters

Debt sets how much a change in interest rates costs the budget. The level matters less than the direction and the rate it is refinanced at; read it with net interest.

## How to read it

Compare against the country's own history and against peers with similar currencies and credit ratings. Above 100% is common in rich economies with deep domestic bond markets and dangerous in economies that borrow in someone else's currency.

## What it does not say

Gross liabilities ignore the assets a government holds against them (Norway's fund, Japan's reserves). A high reading is not a default forecast.

## Source

Source: OECD Economic Outlook (CC BY 4.0), general government, annual. Palanor reads the standard definition where the OECD publishes one and the country-specific definition otherwise; points carry `definition: country-specific` in their metadata when the latter applies.