88.78
% of GDP, 2025
Moderate trust, 71 of 100 Only IMF WEO counts: GDD central republishes it, so there is nothing independent to check it against.
- IMF WEO
- GDD central
Recorded change in how a source reports; hover or focus the ring for details.
Show the data as a table
| Year | IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026), general government gross debt (GGXWDG_NGDP) | IMF Global Debt Database (September 2025), central government debt (CG_DEBT_GDP) |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | – | 11.25 |
| 1977 | – | 14.96 |
| 1978 | – | 32.54 |
| 1979 | – | 52.6 |
| 1980 | – | 33.39 |
| 1981 | – | 64.13 |
| 1982 | – | 70.78 |
| 1983 | – | 40.8 |
| 1984 | – | 33.02 |
| 1985 | – | 31.47 |
| 1986 | – | 63.55 |
| 1987 | – | 121.12 |
| 1988 | – | 213.49 |
| 1989 | – | 192.61 |
| 1990 | – | 193.28 |
| 1991 | – | 172.56 |
| 1992 | – | 154.04 |
| 1993 | – | 140.99 |
| 1994 | – | 128.49 |
| 1995 | – | 113.03 |
| 1996 | – | 58.79 |
| 1997 | – | 82.71 |
| 1998 | – | 194.09 |
| 1999 | – | 87.58 |
| 2000 | – | 59.27 |
| 2001 | 94.72 | 94.72 |
| 2002 | 95.31 | 95.31 |
| 2003 | 90.15 | 90.15 |
| 2004 | 80.65 | 80.65 |
| 2005 | 73.2 | 73.2 |
| 2006 | 60.01 | 60.01 |
| 2007 | 55.93 | 55.93 |
| 2008 | 51.72 | 51.72 |
| 2009 | 51.82 | 51.82 |
| 2010 | 49.32 | 49.32 |
| 2011 | 43 | 43 |
| 2012 | 46.1 | 46.1 |
| 2013 | 49.49 | 49.49 |
| 2014 | 53.53 | 53.53 |
| 2015 | 53.05 | 53.05 |
| 2016 | 54.47 | 54.47 |
| 2017 | 57.2 | 57.2 |
| 2018 | 60.59 | 60.59 |
| 2019 | 69.13 | 69.13 |
| 2020 | 75.42 | 75.97 |
| 2021 | 92.21 | 92.86 |
| 2022 | 115.72 | 130.73 |
| 2023 | 108.78 | 115.6 |
| 2024 | 99.16 | 96.45 |
| 2025 | 88.78 | – |
All countriesAll of Laos's figuresCompare
Laos among 184 countries
30 have a higher figure and 153 a lower one. Definitions differ between countries, and their years run from 2009 to 2026.
What this number counts
- Counts
- General government gross debt at the end of the year, as a percentage of the year's GDP (a narrower central government figure is shown with half weight)
- Where
- Lao P.D.R.
- When
- Latest actual year: IMF WEO 2025, GDD central 2024. IMF WEO forecast years are left out. (one year, not an average)
Where the number comes from (2 sources)
| Source | Figure and year | Definition | Quality | Counts for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026), general government gross debt (GGXWDG_NGDP)International Monetary Fund (IMF) · Official economic statisticsRetrieved 2026-10-27 | 88.782025 | General government gross debt at the end of 2025, as a percentage of GDP, from the IMF World Economic Outlook of October 2026.Latest actual year according to WEO: 2025; later WEO years are IMF forecasts and are left out. WEO's country metadata: general government covers Central Government; debt is valued at nominal value; instruments listed: not stated; methodology: Government Finance Statistics Manual (GFSM) 2001; historical data source: Ministry of Finance or Treasury. Raw file: weo_sdmx_GGXWDG_NGDP.xml (https://api.imf.org/external/sdmx/2.1/data/IMF.RES,WEO/.GGXWDG_NGDP.A; WEO published 13 October 2026). | 5 of 5 checks
| 100% |
IMF Global Debt Database (September 2025), central government debt (CG_DEBT_GDP)International Monetary Fund (IMF) · Official economic statisticsRetrieved 2026-10-27 | 96.452024 | Total stock of debt liabilities issued by the central government at the end of 2024, as a percentage of GDP (GDD indicator "Debt instruments, Central government").The GDD names its source for each span of years: IMF International Financial Statistics and World Bank International Debt Statistics (1976-1995); WEO 2009 (1996-2000); WEO 2025 (2001-2024). The figure for 2024 comes from WEO 2025. Calendar years. Central government is a narrower unit than general government: it leaves out state and local governments and, depending on the country, social security funds, so it is shown with half weight. Raw file: gdd_sdmx_GG_CG.xml (https://api.imf.org/external/sdmx/2.1/data/IMF.FAD,GDD/.FL_S13_POGDP_PT+FL_S1311MIXED_POGDP_PT.A; GDD release of 17 September 2025), the same values as the DataMapper API file CG_DEBT_GDP.json. The GDD gives "WEO 2025" as the source of its 2024 figure, the collection shown in the IMF WEO line, so it is shown but not counted as a separate source. That collection's central government figure is narrower than the general government figure in the IMF WEO line. | 4 of 5 checks
| Not counted |
- IMF WEO100%
Shown but not counted: GDD central (republishes IMF WEO).
How the trust score was worked out
- Quality40 / 40
How well the sources are made
- Agreement15 / 30
Unknown with one source, so set to half
- Independence6 / 20
How many separate ways the number was measured
- Freshness10 / 10
How recent the newest data is
Who reports it, and since when
- Single source: nothing to check it against
- GDD central, 1996: The GDD series switches source in 1996: IMF International Financial Statistics and World Bank International Debt Statistics up to 1995, then WEO 2009 (1996-2000). source
- GDD central, 2001: The GDD series switches source in 2001: WEO 2009 up to 2000, then WEO 2025 (2001-2024). source
figure no figure here, inside its range no later figure recorded change
Why the numbers differ
- Gross and net debt: gross debt counts what the government owes; net debt subtracts the financial assets that match debt instruments. For Norway, WEO gives gross debt of 54% of GDP and net debt of -160.39% for 2025; for Canada, 113.58% gross and 10.43% net for 2025. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- General and central government: the GDD central government line leaves out state and local governments and, in many countries, social security funds. For Norway the GDD gives 14.88% of GDP for central government in 2024, against 54% for general government in WEO (2025). (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- Market and face value: WEO records, country by country, how debt is valued. It gives current market value for Japan and Norway, face value for Germany, France and Italy, and nominal value for the United States and the United Kingdom. Eurostat's Maastricht debt is always at face value and consolidated within general government. When interest rates rise, the market value of existing bonds falls below their face value, so the two measures move apart.
- Instruments: WEO lists which liabilities each country's gross debt includes. Some include insurance, pension and standardised guarantee schemes and other accounts payable; Maastricht debt counts only currency and deposits, debt securities and loans.
- Releases: the GDD (September 2025) took most of its recent general government figures from the 2025 WEO, and WEO has since revised them. For Japan the GDD gives 236.66% of GDP for 2024; WEO October 2026 gives 213.59% for the same year and 213.59% for 2024. Lines copied from another line are shown but not counted twice. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- Eurostat and WEO for EU countries: WEO says it takes the debt data of several EU members from Eurostat; where it says so, the WEO line is marked as a copy. Small differences remain because Eurostat's October release is later than the data WEO used.
Common mistakes
- Reading gross debt alone for countries with large government financial assets, such as Norway: the government owns more financial assets than it owes, so net debt is below zero. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- Treating WEO forecast years as data: WEO tables run several years ahead. This page keeps only the years WEO marks as actual for each country. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- Forgetting that the ratio changes when GDP is revised, even if the debt does not. Istat revised Italy's national accounts in September 2026, and Eurostat flags a break in Italy's series from 2010. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
Download, cite and report an error
From the table How large is each government's debt compared with its economy, and how has it changed since 1980? Updated 2026-10-27.
Download every value in this table (CSV)
Cite as: RealStats, “General government gross debt in Laos”, updated 2026-10-27, with the original sources listed on the page.