List of sovereign debt crises


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.

Table

The following table includes actual sovereign defaults and debt restructuring of independent countries since 1557.
AreaCountryDateType, causes, consequences, and references
Asia1921
Asia1932
Asia1939
Asia1958
Asia1969
Asia1972
Asia1966
Asia1992
Asia1990
Asia1942
Asia1946-52Due to the over-issued national bond amounted more than twice as GDP, bank accounts were blocked
Asia1989
Asia1990–91
Asia1984
Asia1987
Asia2002
Asia1997–2000
Asia1975–1990
Asia1876
Asia1915
Asia1983
Asia1995–2004
Asia1980
Asia1982
Asia1996
Asia1997–20071997 Asian financial crisis.
Asia1931
Asia1940
Asia1978
Asia1982
Asia1975
Europe1990
Europe1796
Europe1802
Europe1811
Europe1816Caused by the War of the Sixth Coalition. Ended by the establishment of Austria's central bank Oesterreichische Nationalbank.
Europe1868
Europe1938
Europe1940
Europe1945
Europe1932
Europe1990
Europe1993–96
Europe1813Danish state bankruptcy of 1813.
Europe1812State spending during the Napoleonic Wars was extremely high due in large manner to the high level of military expenditures.
Europe Germany1932Under 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 after the Wall Street Crash, repayments were becoming impossible. In the Lausanne Conference of 1932, the UK and France agreed to a suspension of payments. The US Congress rejected it, but payments were never continued.
Europe1939
Europe1948See London Agreement on German External Debts
EuropeGermany - 1814
EuropeGermany - 1807
EuropeGermany - 1813
EuropeGermany - 1850
EuropeGermany - 1812
Europe1826
Europe1843
Europe1860
Europe1893
Europe1932
Europe2012
Europe2015Due to the Greek government-debt crisis, Greece failed to make a €1.6 billion payment to the IMF on time.
Europe1932
Europe1941
Europe1936
Europe1981
Europe1814Instability resulting from the rule of Napoleon I in France
Europe1828
Europe1837
Europe1841
Europe1845
Europe1852
Europe1890
Europe1933
Europe1839
Europe1885
Europe1918Repudiation of Tsarist debts by Bolshevik revolutionaries.
Europe1998After world commodity prices dropped on major Russian exports the 1998 Russian financial crisis ensued. Mounting debts led to the government declaring a moratorium on payments to international creditors.
Europe1947
Europe1957
Europe1991
Europe1557
Europe1575
Europe1596
Europe1607
Europe1627
Europe1647
Europe1652
Europe1662
Europe1666
Europe1809
Europe1820
Europe1831
Europe1834
Europe1851
Europe1867
Europe1872
Europe1882
Europe1936-39
Europe1812Military expenditures as a consequence of the Napoleonic Wars.
Europe1998-2000
Europe1822
Europe1834
Europe1888–89
Europe1932See
Europe1976The 1976 IMF Crisis was a financial crisis in the United Kingdom in 1976 which forced the government to borrow US$3.9 billion from the International Monetary Fund, the largest loan ever to have been requested from the IMF.
Europe1983Avoided default through a multinational emergency loan.
Africa1991
Africa1976
Africa1985
Africa1992-2002
Africa2004
Africa1981
Africa1983
Africa1979
Africa1983
Africa2000
Africa2011
Africa Egypt1876The crisis will cause the ‘Urabi Revolt and the subsequent British invasion of Egypt.
Africa1984
Africa1999–2005
Africa1979
Africa1982
Africa1989–2006
Africa1994
Africa2000
Africa2002
Africa1983
Africa1994
Africa2000
Africa1980
Africa1982
Africa1986
Africa1992
Africa2001
Africa2004
Africa1965
Africa1995
Africa1997–98
Africa1985
Africa1989
Africa1993
Africa1991
Africa1867
Africa1986
Africa1983
Africa2000
Africa2006See Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe
Americas1998–2005
Americas1827Default.
Americas1890Panic of 1890
Americas1982Latin American debt crisis
Americas1988–89Latin American debt crisis
Americas2001Following years of instability, the Argentine economic crisis came to a head, and a new government announced it could not meet its public debt obligations.
Americas2005–16Argentine debt restructuring.
Americas2014
Americas2018Defaulted on its Eurobonds after the uncovering of its high sovereign debt in terms of debt-to-GDP ratio.
Americas1875
Americas1927
Americas1931
Americas1980Latin American debt crisis
Americas1986Latin American debt crisis
Americas1989Latin American debt crisis
Americas1898
Americas1902
Americas1914
Americas1931
Americas1937
Americas1961
Americas1964
Americas1983Latin American debt crisis
Americas1986–87
Americas1990
Americas1826
Americas1880
Americas1931
Americas1961
Americas1963
Americas1966
Americas1972
Americas1974
Americas1983Latin American debt crisis
Americas1826
Americas1850
Americas1873
Americas1880
Americas1900
Americas1932
Americas1935
Americas1828
Americas1874
Americas1895
Americas1901
Americas1932
Americas1962
Americas1981Latin American debt crisis
Americas1983Latin American debt crisis
Americas1984Latin American debt crisis
Americas2003–05
Americas1872
Americas1892
Americas1897
Americas1899
Americas1931
Americas1975–2001Latin American debt crisis
Americas2005
Americas1826
Americas1868
Americas1894
Americas1906
Americas1909
Americas1914
Americas1929
Americas1982
Americas1984
Americas2000
Americas2008
Americas1828
Americas1876
Americas1894
Americas1899
Americas1921
Americas1932
Americas1938
Americas1981–96
Americas2004–05
Americas1933
Americas1986
Americas1989Latin American debt crisis
Americas1982
Americas1828
Americas1873
Americas1981Latin American debt crisis
Americas1978
Americas1827
Americas1833
Americas1844
Americas1850
Americas1866
Americas1898
Americas1914
Americas1928-30s
Americas1982Latin American debt crisis
Americas1828
Americas1894
Americas1911
Americas1915
Americas1932
Americas1979
Americas1932
Americas1983Latin American debt crisis
Americas1987Latin American debt crisis
Americas1988-89
Americas1874
Americas1892
Americas1920
Americas1932
Americas1986Latin American debt crisis
Americas2003
Americas1826
Americas1850
Americas1876
Americas1931
Americas1969
Americas1976
Americas1978
Americas1980Latin American debt crisis
Americas1984Latin American debt crisis
Americas2001-02
Americas1842The Republic of Texas devalued chartal notes that it had issued extensively after the Panic of 1837.
Americas1989
Americas1780Devaluation of the Continental dollar to 1/40 of face value
Americas1790Crisis began in 1782. Ended by the Compromise of 1790 and the Funding Act of 1790.
Americas1798The United States ceased payment of its debt to the overthrown Kingdom of France, prompting the Quasi-War.
Americas1862The Greenback Default
Americas1933Executive Order 6102
Americas1971Nixon Shock
Americas1876
Americas1891
Americas1915
Americas1933
Americas1937
Americas1983Latin American debt crisis
Americas1987Latin American debt crisis
Americas1990
Americas1826
Americas1848
Americas1860
Americas1865
Americas1892
Americas1898
Americas1982Latin American debt crisis
Americas1990
Americas1995–97
Americas1998
Americas2004
Americas2017Venezuela defaulted on US$65 billion in external debt in November 2017 after years of unsustainable borrowing and a crash in global oil prices.
Asia2020Lebanon defaulted on US$1.2 billion in Eurobonds.
Oceania1931Australia defaulted on its entire stock of domestic debt owed to bond and note holders. See Great Depression in Australia