Denmark vs Sweden: Government debt by instrument coverage — SDRs, currency and deposits
Government debt by instrument coverage — SDRs, currency and deposits over time
- Denmark
- Sweden
How they compare
Sweden currently reports 34.87 Percentage of GDP against 26.83 Percentage of GDP in Denmark, a difference of 8.04 Percentage of GDP.
That makes Sweden's figure about 1.3 times Denmark's.
The two have swapped places 6 times across 27 shared years of data; in 2000 it was Sweden ahead.
Denmark ranks 22nd and Sweden ranks 20th of 23 countries.
Across the 3 decades both report, Denmark averaged higher in 1 and Sweden in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Denmark | Sweden | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 41.95 Percentage of GDP | 46.64 Percentage of GDP | 4.7 Percentage of GDP | Sweden |
| 2010s | 43.06 Percentage of GDP | 40.42 Percentage of GDP | 2.64 Percentage of GDP | Denmark |
| 2020s | 33.27 Percentage of GDP | 35.15 Percentage of GDP | 1.89 Percentage of GDP | Sweden |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher government debt by instrument coverage — sdrs, currency and deposits, Denmark or Sweden?
- Sweden, at 34.87 Percentage of GDP against 26.83 Percentage of GDP in Denmark as of 2026.
- What is the difference in government debt by instrument coverage — sdrs, currency and deposits between Denmark and Sweden?
- 8.04 Percentage of GDP, with Sweden ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Denmark and Sweden?
- 27 years are reported by both, from 2000 to 2026.
- How do Denmark and Sweden rank globally for government debt by instrument coverage — sdrs, currency and deposits?
- Denmark ranks 22nd and Sweden ranks 20th of 23 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Government debt by instrument coverage — SDRs, currency and deposits, debt securities and loans. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
The magnitude of government debt and debt-to-GDP ratios varies depending on which measure of debt is used. To promote international comparability, the IMF, the OECD and the World Bank have agreed on a set of standard debt measures, which are defined in the Public Sector Debt Statistics Guide for Compilers and Users and the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014. Government gross debt is shown in four categories: D1 to D4. D1 is the narrowest measure, comprising only two financial instruments: debt securities and loans. D4 (‘total gross debt’) is the broadest measure and includes debt securities, loans, Special Drawing Rights, currency and deposits, other accounts payable and insurance, pensions and standardised guarantees. The D1 to D3 measures are comparable between OECD countries. D4 is the preferred measure of debt in the international accounting standards (System of National Accounts or SNA) but cross-country comparability is more difficult for D4 because countries have different approaches to recording unfunded pension liabilities for government employees. For more information, please see the document: Measuring Government Debt: D1-D4