The list of sovereign debt crises involves the inability of independent countries to meet its liabilities as they become due. These include:
Debts could be owed either to private parties within a country, to foreign investors, or to other countries.
The following table includes actual sovereign defaults and debt restructuring of independent countries since 1557.[1]
| Country | Date | Type, causes, consequences, and references | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | [2] | ||
| 1992 - 2002 | |||
| 2004 | |||
| 1876 | The crisis caused the ʻUrabi revolt and the subsequent British invasion of Egypt. | ||
| 1999–2005 | |||
 Ghana | 1982 | ||
| 2022 | [3] | ||
| 1989–2006 | |||
| 2002 | |||
| 1980 | |||
| 1995 | |||
| 1997–98 | |||
| 1991 | |||
 Tunisia | 1986 | [4] | |
| 1979 | |||
 Zambia | 2020 | Default due to high debt levels following pandemic and commodity price drops. Followed by IMF bailout, 2022. [5] | |
 Zimbabwe | 2006 | See Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe |
| Country | Date | Type, causes, consequences, and references | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | |||
| 1932 | |||
| 1939 | |||
| 1966 | [6] | ||
 Japan | 1946 - 52 | Due to an over-issued national bond amounting to more than twice as GDP, bank accounts were blocked | |
| 1990–91 | |||
| 2020 | Lebanon defaulted on US$1.2 billion in Eurobonds.[7] | ||
| 1984 | |||
| 1987 | |||
| 1997–2000 | |||
| 1975–1990 | [8] | ||
| 2022 | 2019–present Sri Lankan economic crisis[9] [10] | ||
| 1997–2007 | 1997 Asian financial crisis. | ||
| 1975 |
| Country | Date | Type, causes, consequences, and references | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1811 | [11] | ||
| 1816 | Caused by the War of the Sixth Coalition. Ended by the establishment of Austria's central bank Oesterreichische Nationalbank. | ||
| 1945 | |||
| 1993–96 | |||
| 2012-2013 | 2012–2013 Cypriot financial crisis | ||
| 1813 | Danish state bankruptcy of 1813. | ||
| 1788 | On 17 August 1788, the royal treasury began paying creditors in IOUs rather than money after service on debt (mainly from the Seven Years' War and American War of Independence) had depleted the royal treasury to just 400,000 livres (one day's worth of state expenses). To restore state credit, the royal ministry called the Estates General of 1789 to make structural reforms to state revenue.[12] | ||
| 1797 | Deflation after the withdrawal of the assignat and mandat territorial led Finance Minister Dominique-Vincent Ramel-Nogaret to repudiate of 2/3 of French state debt.[13] | ||
| 1812 | State spending during the Napoleonic Wars was extremely high due in large manner to the high level of military expenditures. | ||
| 1932 | Under the Versailles Treaty ending the First World War, Germany was forced to make war reparations. The Young Plan of 1929 was meant to settle the structure, but in the Great Depression repayments became impossible. In the Lausanne Conference of 1932, the UK and France agreed to a suspension of payments. The US Congress rejected it, but payments ceased until the implementation of the London Agreement on German External Debts in 1953. | ||
| 1948 | See London Agreement on German External Debts | ||
 Greece | 2012 | [14] | |
| 2015 | Due to the Greek government-debt crisis, Greece failed to make a €1.6 billion payment to the IMF on time (payment was made with a 20-day delay[15] [16]). | ||
| 1918 | Repudiation of Tsarist debts by Bolshevik revolutionaries.[17] | ||
| 1998 | After world commodity prices dropped on major Russian exports (particularly metals and oil) the 1998 Russian financial crisis ensued. Mounting debts led to the government declaring a moratorium on payments to international creditors. | ||
| 2022 | 2022 Russian debt default[18] | ||
 Spain | 1936 - 39 | ||
| 1812 | Military expenditures as a consequence of the Napoleonic Wars. | ||
| 1998 - 2000 | |||
| 1983 | Avoided default through a multinational emergency loan. |
| Country | Date | Type, causes, consequences, and references |
|---|---|---|
| 1998–2005 | ||
| 2018 | Defaulted on its Eurobonds after the uncovering of its high sovereign debt in terms of debt-to-GDP ratio.[19] | |
| 2003–05 | ||
 Dominican Republic | 1975–2001 | Latin American debt crisis |
 El Salvador | 1981–96 | |
| 2004–05 | ||
 Mexico | 1850 | |
| 1982 | Latin American debt crisis | |
 Panama | 1988 - 89 | |
| 1790 | Crisis began in 1782. Ended by the Compromise of 1790 and the Funding Act of 1790.[20] [21] | |
| 1933 | Suspension of federal payments in gold amid a bank crisis and international run on gold reserves[22] | |
| 1953 | Congress refuses to raise the United States debt ceiling, forcing the federal government to reduce spending, monetize gold, and use cash balances with banks until the ceiling was eventually raised. | |
| 1995-96 | Congress fails to reach agreement with President Clinton on the budget, resulting in the United States federal government shutdowns of 1995–1996; Republicans also threaten not to raise the debt ceiling | |
| 2011 | 2011 United States debt-ceiling crisis | |
| 2013 | 2013 United States debt-ceiling crisis | |
| 2023 | 2023 United States debt-ceiling crisis |
| Country | Date | Type, causes, consequences, and references |
|---|---|---|
| 1827 | Default.[23] | |
| 1890 | Baring crisis | |
| 1982 | Latin American debt crisis | |
| 1988–89 | Latin American debt crisis | |
| 2001 | Following years of instability, the Argentine economic crisis (1999–2002) came to a head, and a new government announced it could not meet its public debt obligations. | |
| 2005–16 | Argentine debt restructuring. | |
| 2014 | [24] [25] | |
| 2020 | [26] | |
| 1927 | ||
 Brazil | 1986–87 | |
| 1990 | ||
 Ecuador | 2020 | [27] [28] |
| 1874 | The payment of loans taken in the English market between 1871-72 was stopped due to bad economic conditions[29] | |
| 1920 | The payment of foreign loans was once again suspended due to adverse economic and political conditions[30] | |
 Peru | 1850 | |
 Suriname | 2020 | https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/s-p-fitch-downgrade-suriname-reflecting-default-event-59414975 |
| 2001 - 02 | ||
 Uruguay | 1937 | |
| 1995–97 | ||
| 1998 | ||
| 2017 | Venezuela defaulted on US$65 billion in external debt in November 2017 after years of unsustainable borrowing and a crash in global oil prices.[31] |
| Country | Date | Type, causes, consequences, and references | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Australia defaulted on its entire stock of domestic debt owed to bond and note holders. See Great Depression in Australia | |||
| 1995–2004 | Default only on domestic debt, not external debt |