Here is a visualization from the OECD on general government debt by country in 2010:
Source: OECD (2021), General government debt (indicator). doi: 10.1787/a0528cc2-en (Accessed on 12 February 2021).
Below is a visualization I created on flurish.studio to show general government debt by OECD country from 1995 to 2019. As described on the OECD website, “Debt is calculated as the sum of the following liability categories (as applicable): currency and deposits; debt securities, loans; insurance, pensions and standardised guarantee schemes, and other accounts payable. Changes in government debt over time primarily reflect the impact of past government deficits.”
Using the same raw data as was used in the grid of lines chart above, below is a bubble chart visualization of general government debt by OECD country from 1995 to 2019. I also created this visualization on flurish.studio. The information displayed on this chart shows the measurement of the gross debt of the general government as a percentage of GDP. As described on the OECD website, this measurement is, “a key indicator for the sustainability of government finance.”
There are seemingly endless ways to visualize data. In this exercise, a bar chart, grid of lines chart, and bubble chart were all used to show government debt by OECD country. Though the visuals are different, all three methods are effective ways to compare the OECD countries’ debt-to-GDP ratio. The grid of lines and bubble chart also included a temporal element, showing how the debt of each country changed over time. I chose to create a bubble chart for my third visualization because I like how the bubble size and color can be used to emphasize larger government debts. As debt increased for a particular country, the bubble changed from light red to darker red and the dot size moved from a small circle to a larger circle. While the grid of lines chart more clearly distinguishes each country, the bubble chart makes the increases in certain countries debts appear more dramatic. Another difference between the grid of lines chart and the bubble chart is how the two charts show change in time. Although the grid of lines chart shows the change in debt over time across each country more clearly in one singular screenshot, the slider for setting the year in the bubble chart is an engaging, interactive element for the viewer of the visualization to use. Overall, this exercise shows that different visualizations can be used to show data in different ways, or to appeal to different audiences.
All of the data visualizations on this page were made with raw data sourced from the OECD: OECD (2021), General government debt (indicator). doi: 10.1787/a0528cc2-en (Accessed on 12 February 2021).
Please use this link to go back to my portfolio: Rachel Bukowitz Portfolio