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[[File:Gdp to debt ratio.svg|thumb|450px|lang=en|Heatmap of the development of debt-to-GDP ratio for European countries, in percent of GDP from 1995 to 2017.]]
In [[economics]], the '''debt-to-GDP ratio''' is the [[ratio]] between a country's [[government debt]] (measured in units of currency) and its [[gross domestic product]] (GDP) (measured in units of currency per year). While it is a "ratio", it is technically measured in units of year, and can be interpreted as the number of years a country needs to pay off its entire debt, if all its GDP is devoted towards it. A low debt-to-GDP ratio indicates that an economy produces goods and services sufficient to pay back debts without incurring further debt.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kenton|first=Will|title=What the Debt-to-GDP Ratio Tells Us|url=https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/debtgdpratio.asp|access-date=2020-09-22|website=Investopedia|language=en|archive-date=2020-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922091913/https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/debtgdpratio.asp|url-status=live}}</ref> Geopolitical and economic considerations – including [[interest rates]], [[war]], [[recession]]s, and other variables – influence the borrowing practices of a nation and the choice to incur further [[debt]].<ref name=StLouisFed>{{cite web|url=http://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/cb/articles/?id=874|title=Budget Deficits and Interest Rates: What is the Link?|publisher=Federal Bank of St. Louis|access-date=2013-10-09|archive-date=2014-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201193646/http://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/cb/articles/?id=874|url-status=dead}}</ref>
It should not be confused with a '''deficit-to-GDP ratio''', which, for countries running budget deficits, measures a country's annual net fiscal loss in a given year ([[Government budget balance|total expenditures minus total revenue]], or the net change in debt per annum) as a percentage share of that country's GDP; for countries running budget surpluses, a ''surplus-to-GDP ratio'' measures a country's annual net fiscal ''gain'' as a share of that country's GDP. Particularly in [[macroeconomics]], various debt-to-GDP ratios can be calculated. The most commonly used ratio is the [[government debt]] divided by the gross domestic product (GDP), which reflects the government's finances, while another common ratio is the total debt to GDP, which reflects the finances of the nation as a whole.
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