THE OECD has released the second edition of the Global Debt Report, which notes that global debt markets played a key role in supporting the recoveries from the 2008 financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, continuously providing capital to governments and companies. But their role needs to shift from supporting recovery to financing investment and growth. This will be a challenge. Debt levels are already high and increasingly costly, economic growth is slowing, and geopolitical risks are rising. 

Sovereign bond issuance in OECD countries is projected to reach a record USD 17 trillion in 2025, up from USD 14 trillion in 2023. Emerging markets and developing economies' (EMDE) figures from debt markets has also grown significantly, from around USD 1 trillion in 2007 to over USD 3 trillion in 2024. The outstanding global stock of corporate bond debt reached USD 35 trillion at the end of 2024, resuming a long-term trend of over two decades of consecutive increases in indebtedness that came to a temporary halt in 2022.

Sovereign bond issuance in OECD countries is projected to reach a record USD 17 trillion in 2025, up from USD 14 trillion in 2023. Emerging markets and developing economies' (EMDE) figures from debt markets has also grown significantly, from around USD 1 trillion in 2007 to over USD 3 trillion in 2024. The outstanding global stock of corporate bond debt reached USD 35 trillion at the end of 2024, resuming a long-term trend of over two decades of consecutive increases in indebtedness that came to a temporary halt in 2022.

In recent years, a significant amount of debt has been refinanced at higher yields compared to the original issues. As a result, interest payment to GDP ratios increased in about two-thirds of OECD countries in 2024 and reached 3.3%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points compared to 2023. This means spending on interest payments is greater than government expenditure on defence in the OECD on aggregate. Looking ahead, 42% of total sovereign debt and 38% of all outstanding corporate bond debt is set to mature in the next three years.