This eye-opening chart compares the debt of the G20 nations

BY JENNI RYALL

The G20 Leaders' Summit kicks off in Brisbane this weekend, with 25 leaders descending on the Australian city to discuss various international issues such as economy, employment, investment and infrastructure.

They will come from 19 member nations, plus a representative from the European Union and the leaders of six invited countries.

SEE ALSO: Isolated for half a century, Myanmar is a struggling beauty

With a lot of talk centred around the economy of such nations, and thesometimes mistaken belief that these nations are the leading economies of the world, we have taken a look at how the 19 nations and the EU stack up against each other.

Australian comparison site, finder.com.au, compiled statistics from the CIA's World Factbook, to compare the countries' economic standing and the debt of the people who reside in them.

Suddenly, your credit card statement doesn't look so bad.

[Click to change views. Source: finder.com.au]

National Debt Per Nation

Out of the G20 members, the European Union is ranked number one for the biggest pool of national debt, with a whopping US$14.8 trillion (A$16.8 trillion). This isn’t surprising given the European Union is made up of 28 member states. The European Union also holds the fifth-highest debt as a proportion of GDP of 87.4%, which means their debt is almost worth the same value as their total economic output.

The United States ranks not far behind the European Union, with US$12.0 trillion (A$13.6 trillion) of debt. It holds the eighth-highest debt as a proportion of gross domestic product (the monetary value of a country's finished goods and services), or 71.8%. While G20 host country Australia comes up well compared with the other nations, placing 13th on the list of national debt per nation. Australia’s national debt is US$485.1 billion (A$549.8 billion), which represents 32.6% of the country’s GDP.

Saudi Arabia was ranked at the bottom of the list, with US$87.7 billion (A$99.5 billion), which represents 12.2% of its GDP. The highest debt as a proportion of GDP was Japan, with 226.1%, which means that the country’s national debt of US$11.3 trillion (A$12.9 trillion) is more than double what it made for the year. It also ranked third-highest for national debt. If Japan spent the next two years repaying its debt with its entire GDP, it would still be in the red.

Half of the G20 countries have a debt under 50% of their GDP (Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, Indonesia, Australia, South Korea, Turkey, Mexico, South Africa and Argentina). The remaining countries had debts that totalled above 50% of their GDP.

National Debt Per Person

Japan has taken the top spot for the highest national debt per person, at US$88,903 (A$101,305), due to its third-highest national debt coupled with its population of 127.3 million, which is one-third the size of the U.S. Italy came in second place, but a fair way behind the Japanese — with almost half the amount of debt.

On the other end of the list, India’s debt per person was the lowest at US$691 (A$783), due to its huge population of 1.3 billion -– the second-largest in the world. Despite this, the country’s debt is over half (51.8%) of its GDP. India’s economic output is very low compared to how many people live there. Despite its thriving population, India has more extreme poverty than anywhere else in the world and holds one-third of the world’s poorest people, living off less than US$1.25 per day.

Australia holds the ninth-highest debt per person, at US$20,971 (A$23,769). This is a significantly strong position, given Australia holds the smallest population out of all the G20 nations, of 23.1 million.

The US holds the fifth-highest debt per person, of US$37,975 (A$43,020), and the fifth-highest population of 316.1 million.

China has a significantly low debt per person of US$1,540 (A$1,768), placing it 17th on the list. Its strength lies in its workforce, with a population of 1.4 billion (the highest in the world) and an estimated 68% employed.

http://mashable.com/2014/11/13/compare-debt-g20-nations/?utm_cid=hp-hh-sec