Net Foreign Assets
Net Foreign Assets by country
Commentary
Notable countries
Timor-Leste stands out by a very wide margin at 837.9% of GDP, far ahead of Andorra (565.1%) and a second tier led by Kiribati and Norway, both above 300%. At the other end, Mozambique has the weakest position at -311.1%, followed by Sudan at -248.5% and Mongolia at -181.1%. A notable surprise is the mix of very small economies and advanced financial centers among the leaders, while several European countries still appear near the bottom, including Greece and Montenegro.
Regional trends
Oceania has the strongest average net foreign asset position at 64.84% of GDP, helped by very high values in Kiribati and Nauru. Asia (26.91%) and Europe (12.13%) also average positive positions, while South America (-25.9%), Africa (-46.95%), and North America (-53.65%) are negative on average. Africa shows the weakest regional average and also contains several of the lowest-ranked countries, including Mozambique, Sudan, Tunisia, Zambia, and Cape Verde.
Data source
The data come from Wikipedia/IMF 2024 and measure net foreign assets as a share of GDP. Coverage includes 129 countries. Values are expressed in % of GDP, and the distribution is highly spread out, with a mean of -4.858 and a population standard deviation of 124.
Interpretation
Higher net foreign assets indicate that a country’s external assets exceed its external liabilities by a larger margin, while deeply negative values point to a net debtor position relative to the rest of the world. Positive readings can reflect strong external savings or investment income buffers, but very large values may also be shaped by country size or special financial structures. Overall, the data show a slightly negative global average across the countries covered, with large differences between strong creditor economies and heavily indebted ones.