Nigeria vs Saudi Arabia

Nigeria vs Saudi Arabia: Government debt

Government debt in 2025: 36.1% of GDP in Nigeria and 31.8% of GDP in Saudi Arabia, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Nigeria, by 4.3 percentage points, or 1.13 times that in Saudi Arabia.

Watch it change on the map

% of GDP · IMF

Nigeria vs Saudi Arabia: Government debtGovernment debt in 2025: 36.1% of GDP in Nigeria and 31.8% of GDP in Saudi Arabia, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Nigeria, by 4.3 percentage points, or 1.13 times that in Saudi Arabia.
NigeriaSaudi ArabiaIMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026)

What the numbers say

  • Nigeria has been higher since 2021, when it overtook Saudi Arabia.
  • In 2025, Nigeria ranked 114 and Saudi Arabia ranked 122 of 149 countries, counting from the highest.
  • The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts Nigeria at 31.9% of GDP and Saudi Arabia at 48.7% of GDP in 2031.

Every year

% of GDP · IMF

YearNigeriaSaudi Arabia
202536.131.8
202439.325.9
202336.323
202229.821.3
202126.625.5
202025.729.7
201921.420.3
201820.416.8
20171816
201617.412.3
201514.95.5
201415.81.5
2013132.1
201212.53
201112.45.3
20106.78.4
20096.114
20085.212.1
20075.817.1
20066.725.8
200513.537.3
200425.262.9
200329.981.6
200230.796.4
200137.793.2
200040.986.7
199946.1103
199815.8101.5
199717.176.7
199617.975.2
199524.274.3
199439.767.9
199350.458.6
199249.847.8
199153.239.4
199050.9–
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
YearNigeriaSaudi Arabia
202634.735.4
202732.837.3
202832.940.2
202932.543.1
203032.245.9
203131.948.7

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.
  • Ranks count the 149 countries with a value in 2025, highest first.

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

Nigeria vs Saudi Arabia

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