Data / Rankings / Government balance / Countries

Countries by government balance as a share of GDP

Norway had the highest government balance as a share of GDP of 42 countries in 2017, at 4.8% of GDP. Brazil had the lowest, at -7.1% of GDP. The median was -0.8% of GDP. Source: the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Highest4.8Norway
Lowest-7.1Brazil
Median-0.842 countries

All countries, 2017

Norway: 4.8 % of GDPNorway4.8South Korea: 2.5 % of GDPSouth Korea2.5Denmark: 1.7 % of GDPDenmark1.7New Zealand: 1.5 % of GDPNew Zealand1.5Czechia: 1.5 % of GDPCzechia1.5Luxembourg: 1.5 % of GDPLuxembourg1.5Netherlands: 1.4 % of GDPNetherlands1.4Germany: 1.3 % of GDPGermany1.3Sweden: 1.3 % of GDPSweden1.3Iceland: 1.3 % of GDPIceland1.3Switzerland: 0.9 % of GDPSwitzerland0.9Greece: 0.7 % of GDPGreece0.7Lithuania: 0.4 % of GDPLithuania0.4Slovenia: 0.1 % of GDPSlovenia0.1Canada: -0.1 % of GDPCanada-0.1Latvia: -0.3 % of GDPLatvia-0.3Ireland: -0.3 % of GDPIreland-0.3Estonia: -0.5 % of GDPEstonia-0.5Finland: -0.6 % of GDPFinland-0.6Russia: -0.6 % of GDPRussia-0.6Belgium: -0.8 % of GDPBelgium-0.8Austria: -0.8 % of GDPAustria-0.8Slovakia: -1 % of GDPSlovakia-1Israel: -1.2 % of GDPIsrael-1.2Australia: -1.2 % of GDPAustralia-1.2Poland: -1.5 % of GDPPoland-1.5China: -2.3 % of GDPChina-2.3Indonesia: -2.3 % of GDPIndonesia-2.3Hungary: -2.5 % of GDPHungary-2.5United Kingdom: -2.5 % of GDPUnited Kingdom-2.5Italy: -2.5 % of GDPItaly-2.5Chile: -2.9 % of GDPChile-2.9Portugal: -3 % of GDPPortugal-3Japan: -3 % of GDPJapan-3Spain: -3.1 % of GDPSpain-3.1France: -3.4 % of GDPFrance-3.4Costa Rica: -3.5 % of GDPCosta Rica-3.5Colombia: -3.8 % of GDPColombia-3.8Mexico: -3.9 % of GDPMexico-3.9South Africa: -4.3 % of GDPSouth Africa-4.3United States: -4.4 % of GDPUnited States-4.4Brazil: -7.1 % of GDPBrazil-7.1
% of GDP. Source: OECD, OECD National Accounts at a Glance: net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of general government, percentage of GDP (DSD_NAAG_VI@DF_NAAG_VI, B9S13). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCountries2017
% of GDP		Change on 2016
1Norway4.8+0.9 pts
2South Korea2.5+0.4 pts
3Denmark1.7+1.4 pts
4New Zealand1.5+0.5 pts
5Czechia1.5+0.8 pts
6Luxembourg1.5-0.5 pts
7Netherlands1.4+1.1 pts
8Germany1.3+0.2 pts
9Sweden1.3+0.4 pts
10Iceland1.3-11.4 pts
11Switzerland0.9+0.5 pts
12Greece0.7+0.5 pts
13Lithuania0.4+0.3 pts
14Slovenia0.1+2.1 pts
15Canada-0.1+0.3 pts
16Latvia-0.3-0.3 pts
17Ireland-0.3+0.5 pts
18Estonia-0.5-0.4 pts
19Finland-0.6+1.1 pts
20Russia-0.6+1.8 pts
21Belgium-0.8+1.7 pts
22Austria-0.8+0.7 pts
23Slovakia-1+1.6 pts
24Israel-1.2+0.6 pts
25Australia-1.2+0.4 pts
26Poland-1.5+0.9 pts
27China-2.3-0.5 pts
28Indonesia-2.3+0.6 pts
29Hungary-2.5-0.7 pts
30United Kingdom-2.5+0.8 pts
31Italy-2.5-0.1 pts
32Chile Estimated-2.9-0.2 pts
33Portugal-3-1.1 pts
34Japan-3+0.5 pts
35Spain-3.1+1.2 pts
36France-3.4+0.4 pts
37Costa Rica-3.5-1.1 pts
38Colombia-3.8+0.8 pts
39Mexico-3.9-0.6 pts
40South Africa-4.3-0.4 pts
41United States-4.4+1 pts
42Brazil-7.1+0.1 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

General government net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) as a percentage of GDP.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the countries are compared on one definition. 5 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2017 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

OECD. OECD National Accounts at a Glance: net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of general government, percentage of GDP (DSD_NAAG_VI@DF_NAAG_VI, B9S13). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_NAAG_VI%40DF_NAAG_VI&df[ag]=OECD.SDD.NAD. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2026). OECD National Accounts at a Glance: net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of general government, percentage of GDP (DSD_NAAG_VI@DF_NAAG_VI, B9S13) (Countries by government balance as a share of GDP, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_NAAG_VI%40DF_NAAG_VI&df[ag]=OECD.SDD.NAD

MLA 9

OECD National Accounts at a Glance: net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of general government, percentage of GDP (DSD_NAAG_VI@DF_NAAG_VI, B9S13), Countries by government balance as a share of GDP, 2017. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 12 Oct. 2026, https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_NAAG_VI%40DF_NAAG_VI&df[ag]=OECD.SDD.NAD. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/government-balance/countries?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2026. OECD National Accounts at a Glance: net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of general government, percentage of GDP (DSD_NAAG_VI@DF_NAAG_VI, B9S13). Countries by government balance as a share of GDP, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_NAAG_VI%40DF_NAAG_VI&df[ag]=OECD.SDD.NAD. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/government-balance/countries?period=2017.

Harvard

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2026) OECD National Accounts at a Glance: net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of general government, percentage of GDP (DSD_NAAG_VI@DF_NAAG_VI, B9S13), Countries by government balance as a share of GDP, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_NAAG_VI%40DF_NAAG_VI&df[ag]=OECD.SDD.NAD, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/government-balance/countries?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{organisation_countries_by_government_balance_2017,
  author = {{Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development}},
  title = {{OECD National Accounts at a Glance: net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of general government, percentage of GDP (DSD\_NAAG\_VI@DF\_NAAG\_VI, B9S13): Countries by government balance as a share of GDP, 2017}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_NAAG_VI%40DF_NAAG_VI&df[ag]=OECD.SDD.NAD},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/government-balance/countries?period=2017. Publisher attribution: OECD. OECD National Accounts at a Glance: net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of general government, percentage of GDP (DSD\_NAAG\_VI@DF\_NAAG\_VI, B9S13). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ\&df[id]=DSD\_NAAG\_VI\%40DF\_NAAG\_VI\&df[ag]=OECD.SDD.NAD. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
TI  - OECD National Accounts at a Glance: net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of general government, percentage of GDP (DSD_NAAG_VI@DF_NAAG_VI, B9S13): Countries by government balance as a share of GDP, 2017
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/12
PB  - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_NAAG_VI%40DF_NAAG_VI&df[ag]=OECD.SDD.NAD
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/government-balance/countries?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/government-balance/countries?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: OECD. OECD National Accounts at a Glance: net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of general government, percentage of GDP (DSD_NAAG_VI@DF_NAAG_VI, B9S13). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_NAAG_VI%40DF_NAAG_VI&df[ag]=OECD.SDD.NAD. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html.
ER  -
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Questions

Which country has the highest government balance as a share of GDP?

Norway, with 4.8% of GDP in 2017, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Which country has the lowest government balance as a share of GDP?

Brazil, with -7.1% of GDP in 2017.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD National Accounts at a Glance: net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of general government, percentage of GDP (DSD_NAAG_VI@DF_NAAG_VI, B9S13). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 5 countries have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.

Government balance: other rankings

Countries: more rankings