The chart below from our Chart library shows credit ratios by sectors. It is especially corporate debt and household debt that has increased significantly over the last decade, both in advanced economies and Emerging Markets.
While government debt has been rather stable, there is a lot of heterogeneity. Countries like Germany and Sweden have reduced their debt level despite record low interest rates. A rather folly decision as it comes at the expense of public investment. Japan, on the other hand, has run up debt levels that now exceed 220% of GDP (about half of it is owned by the Bank of Japan).