Global Debt is Hovering Near an All-time High

(Business Insider)

Global debt is hovering near a record at $244 trillion, the Institute of International Finance said in a new report.

The figure — although it has dropped slightly from the $247.7 trillion record high in early 2018 — underscores investors' heightened concerns about ballooning debt at a late phase in the global economic cycle.

Put another way, global debt is now more than three times the size of the world economy. The level of debt around the world has topped 318% of global gross domestic product, just below the all-time high of 320% in mid-2016. These elevated levels come despite a "cyclical pickup in global growth" over the last two years, the IIF said. Read more