Countries by Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP)

Hong Kong SAR, China ranks first globally for domestic credit to private sector by banks, with bank credit reaching 231.0% of GDP — more than double the global median and nearly 1,200 times the value recorded by last-placed Somalia at 0.00019% of GDP. China ranks second at 194.2%, followed by Switzerland at 170.4%. The gap between the top and bottom of the ranking reflects wide variation in the depth and reach of banking systems across economies.

Finance category

Ranking 2024

Values shown in %.

Countries by Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP)
Rank	Country	%
1	Hong Kong	231.04
2	China	194.17
3	Switzerland	170.38
4	South Korea	160.35
5	Denmark	144.09
6	New Zealand	129.80
7	Macao	129.63
8	Australia	129.32
9	Singapore	129.19
10	Sweden	125.52
11	Vietnam	124.96
12	Cambodia	124.63
13	Japan	123.13
14	Qatar	118.87
15	Malaysia	116.08
16	Thailand	115.11
17	United Kingdom	112.57
18	Norway	109.73
19	France	103.91
20	Lebanon	102.16
21	Nepal	91.94
22	Iceland	90.90
23	Finland	90.86
24	Luxembourg	85.14
25	Netherlands	82.33
26	Austria	81.50
27	Jordan	80.07
28	Portugal	77.14
29	Honduras	76.48
30	Germany	76.38
31	Fiji	76.00
32	Brazil	75.62
33	Chile	74.94
34	Spain	72.40
35	Bahrain	70.55
36	Mauritius	69.82
37	Israel	69.75
38	Palestine	68.52
39	Panama	68.09
40	United Arab Emirates	67.97
41	Belgium	66.75
42	Georgia	65.36
43	Saint Kitts and Nevis	63.71
44	Armenia	62.43
45	Malta	61.86
46	Tunisia	60.57
47	Estonia	60.53
48	Oman	59.71
49	Slovakia	59.64
50	Barbados	59.62
51	Italy	59.31
52	Bolivia	59.24
53	Iran	57.83
54	Paraguay	57.48
55	South Africa	57.47
56	Aruba	56.71
57	Cyprus	56.61
58	Kosovo	55.66
59	Cabo Verde	55.63
60	Vanuatu	55.53
61	Grenada	54.85
62	Morocco	54.77
63	Russia	54.64
64	Ecuador	54.62
65	El Salvador	53.08
66	Bhutan	51.89
67	North Macedonia	51.09
68	Costa Rica	50.97
69	Saint Lucia	50.72
70	India	50.14
71	Saudi Arabia	50.14
72	Philippines	49.81
73	Greece	48.37
74	Trinidad and Tobago	48.31
75	Namibia	48.21
76	Czechia	48.02
77	Bulgaria	47.03
78	Sri Lanka	46.87
79	Croatia	46.84
80	United States	46.84
81	Peru	45.67
82	Montenegro	45.27
83	Jamaica	45.01
84	Bosnia and Herzegovina	44.17
85	Belize	41.04
86	Colombia	39.51
87	Bahamas	39.49
88	Dominica	39.39
89	Mongolia	38.56
90	Antigua and Barbuda	38.55
91	Samoa	37.26
92	Burundi	36.86
93	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	36.66
94	Brunei	36.56
95	Guatemala	36.26
96	Türkiye	35.98
97	Lithuania	35.97
98	Bangladesh	35.71
99	Slovenia	35.42
100	Timor-Leste	34.65
101	Seychelles	34.63
102	Tonga	34.50
103	Poland	33.59
104	Uzbekistan	33.20
105	Botswana	32.85
106	Serbia	32.60
107	Hungary	32.12
108	Indonesia	31.79
109	Kenya	31.77
110	Maldives	31.54
111	Albania	31.44
112	Uruguay	31.06
113	Dominican Republic	30.90
114	Latvia	29.54
115	Senegal	29.21
116	Nicaragua	29.05
117	Myanmar	28.98
118	Egypt	27.57
119	Burkina Faso	27.11
120	Mexico	26.56
121	Kazakhstan	25.49
122	Togo	25.29
123	Lesotho	25.10
124	Azerbaijan	24.48
125	Moldova	24.25
126	Belarus	24.11
127	Venezuela	23.93
128	Ireland	23.78
129	Micronesia	23.43
130	Djibouti	23.10
131	Kyrgyzstan	23.03
132	Romania	22.73
133	Mauritania	22.59
134	Rwanda	22.53
135	Côte d'Ivoire	22.50
136	Mali	22.38
137	Eswatini	21.53
138	Solomon Islands	21.52
139	Algeria	19.02
140	Benin	18.95
141	Comoros	18.01
142	Mozambique	17.07
143	Suriname	17.00
144	Tanzania	16.71
145	Madagascar	16.44
146	Liberia	14.56
147	Papua New Guinea	14.45
148	Cameroon	14.06
149	Iraq	13.96
150	Republic of Congo	13.72
151	Ukraine	13.43
152	Gabon	13.35
153	Nigeria	13.13
154	Argentina	13.08
155	Zambia	12.97
156	Libya	12.95
157	Central African Republic	12.77
158	Uganda	12.51
159	Tajikistan	11.58
160	Pakistan	11.39
161	DR Congo	11.23
162	Guyana	10.45
163	Guinea-Bissau	10.26
164	Niger	10.16
165	Guinea	8.80
166	Ghana	8.65
167	Gambia	8.57
168	Chad	8.27
169	Malawi	7.49
170	Sao Tome and Principe	7.06
171	South Sudan	6.64
172	Zimbabwe	6.48
173	Angola	6.33
174	Equatorial Guinea	5.86
175	Sudan	5.64
176	Kuwait	4.40
177	Haiti	3.96
178	Sierra Leone	3.95
179	Afghanistan	2.99
180	Somalia	0.00

Analysis

This metric measures financial resources provided to the private sector by deposit-taking corporations (excluding central banks) as a share of GDP. According to the World Bank source note, 'Domestic credit to private sector by banks refers to financial resources provided to the private sector by other depository corporations (deposit taking corporations except central banks), such as through loans, purchases of nonequity securities, and trade credits and other accounts receivable, that establish a claim for repayment. For some countries these claims include credit to public enterprises.' Values are expressed as a percentage of GDP, where higher figures indicate greater banking sector engagement with the private economy. The dataset covers 180 countries, with 174 of 180 countries (96.7%) reporting data from within the last seven years and 100% of data points classified as official. The 2024 reference year has complete data for 135 of 180 countries (75.0%). The range spans 0.00% to 231.04%, and 21 extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold.

The top of the ranking is dominated by high-income financial centers and export-oriented Asian economies. Hong Kong SAR, China leads at 231.0% (rank 1), followed by China at 194.2% (rank 2), Switzerland at 170.4% (rank 3), and South Korea at 160.3% (rank 4). Nordic and Oceanic economies also rank highly: Denmark is 5th at 144.1%, New Zealand 6th at 129.8%, and Australia 8th at 129.3%. Viet Nam (rank 11, 125.0%) and Cambodia (rank 12, 124.6%) stand out as upper-middle-income economies with unusually high ratios relative to their income levels, placing ahead of Japan (rank 13, 123.1%) and well above the broader Southeast Asian average.

The middle of the ranking includes a wide mix of economies. The United States ranks 80th at 46.8%, placing it well below comparably wealthy European peers such as France (rank 19, 103.9%) and Germany (rank 30, 76.4%). Ireland ranks 128th at 23.8%, notably low for a high-income EU economy. At the bottom, Sub-Saharan African economies cluster heavily: Ghana ranks 166th at 8.7%, Malawi 169th at 7.5%, and Angola 173rd at 6.3%. Afghanistan ranks 179th at 3.0%, while Somalia ranks last at 0.00019%. Kuwait ranks 176th at 4.4%, a low value relative to its income level and notable given its position among Gulf states such as Qatar (rank 14, 118.9%) and Bahrain (rank 35, 70.6%).

Several limitations affect interpretation of this metric. The source note explicitly states that for some countries, figures include credit to public enterprises, which means cross-country comparisons may not be perfectly consistent. Countries with large state-owned enterprise sectors may show inflated ratios. The metric captures only bank credit and excludes financing provided by non-bank financial institutions, capital markets, or informal lenders, which can be significant in some economies. For countries with small or dollarized economies, GDP denominator effects can distort ratios upward or downward. Data recency also varies: while 96.7% of countries have data from the last seven years, coverage for the 2024 reference year specifically reaches only 75.0% of the sample, meaning some values may reflect earlier periods.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code FD.AST.PRVT.GD.ZS, with a reference year of 2024. The metric is defined verbatim in the source note as follows: 'Domestic credit to private sector by banks refers to financial resources provided to the private sector by other depository corporations (deposit taking corporations except central banks), such as through loans, purchases of nonequity securities, and trade credits and other accounts receivable, that establish a claim for repayment. For some countries these claims include credit to public enterprises.' The unit is percentage of GDP. The ranking covers 180 countries. Of these, 174 (96.7%) have data from within the last seven years, and 100% of data points are classified as official-quality. Data for the 2024 reference year is available for 135 of 180 countries (75.0%); remaining countries use the most recent available year. The dataset contains 21 extreme outliers identified at a 3-standard-deviation threshold. The average year-over-year change is 7.7%. The full range extends from 0.00019% (Somalia) to 231.04% (Hong Kong SAR, China).

Sources

World Bank