The world's biggest debtor nation is surprisingly not the USA. The best way to calculate that is to look at external debt as a percentage of GDP. When you go past 100%, its dangerous times. HK is surprisingly at #4 but one must also look at their financial balance sheet as a whole - HK is an anomaly. Looking at the list one can now easily understand why Milton Friedman thinks that the Euro is a very flawed currency, and may not even outlast one major recession - its happening now, let's see how things turn out.
1. Ireland - 811%
External debt (as % of GDP): 811%
External debt per capita: $549,819
Gross external debt: $2.311 trillion (Q4 2008)
2008 GDP: $285 billion
2. United Kingdom - 336%
External debt (as % of GDP): 336%
External debt per capita: $153,616
Gross external debt: $9.388 trillion (Q4 2008)
2008 GDP: $2.787 trillion
3. Belgium - 327%
External Debt (as % of GDP): 327%
External debt per capita: $155,362
Gross External Debt: $1.618 trillion (Q4 2008)
2008 GDP: $495.4 billion
4. Hong Kong - 295%
External debt (as % of GDP): 295%
External debt per capita: $93,539
Gross external debt: $659.93 billion (Q4 2008)
2008 GDP: $223.8 billion
5. Netherlands - 268%
External debt (as % of GDP): 268%
External debt per capita: $145,959
Gross external debt: $2.439 trillion (Q4 2008)
2008 GDP: $909.5 billion
6. Switzerland - 264%
External debt (as % of GDP): 264%
External debt per capita: $171,478
Gross external debt: $1.304 trillion (Q4 2008)
2008 GDP: $492.6 billion
7. Austria - 191%
External debt (as % of GDP): 191%
External debt per capita: $100,787
Gross external debt: $827.49 billion (Q4 2008)
2008 GDP: $432.4 billion
8. France - 168%
External debt (as % of GDP): 168%
External debt per capita: $78,070
Gross external debt: $5.001 trillion
2008 GDP: $2.978 trillion
9. Denmark - 159%
External debt (as % of GDP): 159%
External debt per capita: $107,026
Gross external debt: $588.7 billion (Q3 2008)
2008 GDP: $369.6 billion
T-10. Germany - 137.5%
External debt (as % of GDP): 137.5%
External debt per capita: $63,767
Gross external debt: $5.25 trillion (Q4 2008)
2008 GDP: $3.818 trillion
T-10. Spain - 137.5%
External debt (as % of GDP): 137.5%
External debt per capita: $57,091
Gross external debt: $2.313 trillion (Q4 2008)
2008 GDP: $1.683 trillion
12. Sweden - 129%
External debt per capita: $73,245
Gross external debt: $663.58 billion (Q4 2008)*
2008 GDP: $512.9 billion
13. Finland - 116%
External debt (as % of GDP): 116%
External debt per capita: $62,579
Gross external debt: $328.56 billion (Q4 2008)
2008 GDP: $281.2 billion
p/s photos: Julie Hoi