Myanmar (Burma) vs South Africa: Government debt

Government debt: 37.6% of GDP in Myanmar (Burma) in 2019 and 76% of GDP in South Africa in 2024, by IMF estimates. In 2019 the value was higher in South Africa, by 18.5 percentage points, or 1.49 times that in Myanmar (Burma).

Watch it change on the map

% of GDP · IMF

Myanmar (Burma)South AfricaIMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026)

What the numbers say

South Africa has been higher since 2014, when it overtook Myanmar (Burma).
The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts Myanmar (Burma) at 56% of GDP and South Africa at 79.8% of GDP in 2031.

Every year

% of GDP · IMF

Year	Myanmar (Burma)	South Africa
2024	50.7	76
2023	53.2	73.2
2022	56	70.7
2021	63.4	68.8
2020	49.1	68.9
2019	37.6	56.1
2018	39.9	51.5
2017	41.9	48.6
2016	35.7	47.1
2015	36.6	45.2
2014	34.5	43.3
2013	44.9	40.4
2012	48	37.4
2011	49.9	34.7
2010	54.4	31.2
2009	56.4	27
2008	59.8	24.1
2007	77.4	24.3
2006	103.1	28
2005	119	29.6
2004	126.6	30.7
2003	146	31.5
2002	190.6	31.8
2001	262	38.1
2000	164.5	37.9
1999	150.7	–
1998	208.6	–

12.3Projected

IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2025–2031

Year	Myanmar (Burma)	South Africa
2025	52	78.4
2026	53.3	78
2027	54.6	78.1
2028	55.3	78.8
2029	55.3	79.5
2030	55.7	79.7
2031	56	79.8

Each country on its own

Good to know

What the government owes, as a share of the economy’s yearly output.
Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook, October 2026.
The dashed line is the IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026), a scenario rather than a forecast.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time