< Previous Map

Negative Savings

Map No. 318

Open PDF poster

Next Map >

This map shows negative adjusted savings, which is when spending is greater than resources available. Here the World Bank has measured savings by adjusting for educational spending as an investment in the future. Pollution and environmental damage are counted as costs. Long term negative adjusted savings suggest an economy is on an unsustainable path. Poor territories are visible only if they are getting very much poorer.

75% of negative savings in 2003 were recorded in Middle Eastern territories; followed by 10% in South American territories; and 9% in Northern Africa. The largest negative savings were built up in the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.

"Many people no longer view debt as a repayable, finite concept but as a permanent condition akin to indentured servitude." Lezak Shallat, 2006

Territory size shows the proportion of all negative adjusted savings that worldwide that are saved there.

• Open PDF poster, designed for printing. You need Acrobat Reader.
• View labelled territory map or population map for comparison
• Data files: Excel (large with map), Excel (small no map), Opendoc format (see notes)
• Technical notes for this data.
• High Resolution image (see copyright conditions)
• All of the data we use is estimated; see data page