Seychelles has net debts of more than 150% of GDP, while UK is 98th on list, according to Jubilee Debt Campaign
The idyllic Indian Ocean archipelago of the Seychelles has been revealed as the world's most indebted nation, in a list compiled by campaigners.
By including private borrowing from overseas by firms and consumers, as well as government debts, the Jubilee Debt Campaign says its data reveals the true scale of the burden on struggling countries around the world.
The Seychelles, which received an IMF bailout at the height of the world financial crisis in late 2008, tops the list with net debts worth more than a year and a half's GDP. It is followed by four victims of the eurozone crisis: Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain.
The UK is the 98th most indebted country, according to the study. But when gross private debts are taken into account – without offsetting foreign liabilities – the UK shoots up the list. Foreign debts owed by Britain's private sector, mainly by banks, amount to 364% of GDP, Jubilee says, making Britain the fourth most indebted country on those terms. Ireland tops this private sector league with debts worth 900% of GDP.
Jubilee helped to fight for large-scale cancellation of developing countries' debts from 2000 onwards, and some beneficiaries such as Liberia and Burundi still have among the lowest government debt payments as a proportion of GDP in the world.
But Tim Jones, who compiled the data, said the scale of the criss-crossing IOUs between many of the world's major countries showed how vulnerable the international economy remained.
"These figures show the huge imbalances which continue to plague the global economy. Large debts in some countries are matched by huge lending from the likes of German, British and Swiss banks. This creates a global boom-bust cycle which has been repeated for the last 30 years, from Africa and Latin America, to east Asia and Europe, and now India once again," he said.
The Indian government has had to step in to try to halt a breakneck slide in the rupee in recent weeks, as foreign investors pull out their capital due to fears that the US Federal Reserve is about to halt its $85bn-a-month quantitative easing programme.
As well as totting up debts, Jubilee has also revealed the countries most responsible for pouring capital into other economies in the form of loans, often the proceeds of a large trade surplus. Singapore, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia emerge as the largest net creditors to the rest of the world. Singapore has net loans to the rest of the world worth almost three years' GDP.
Karel Williams, of the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change at Manchester University, said these creditor countries should be held equally culpable for periodic global debt crises, along with the debtors who often take much of the blame. "It's like blaming prostitution on the poor girl who's prostituting herself: there's a punter involved here," he said.
"There's a problem about trade imbalances which drives countries to recycle them." Unless the proceeds are reinvested abroad – as Norway does with much of its oil fund, for example – a large trade surplus can drive up a country's currency.
In a separate analysis, Jubilee Debt Campaign also lists the countries where repaying government debts swallows up the largest proportion of revenues. Lebanon tops this list, with more than 55% of the money that comes into the treasury going straight back out to creditors. Jamaica, Greece and Ireland all spend more than 25% of revenues on servicing their national debt.
Jan Toporowski, professor of economics and finance at University of London's school of Oriental and African studies, said: "This is the untold story behind developments in international banking and finance, a story which shows that these are not just everyday transactions helpfully carried out by international banks as a benefit to the world in general. The data shows the legacy of debt that is the consequence of international transactions carried out without a proper system of debt management. They highlight the most urgent issue in international finance."
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