debt rationoun [ C ]
ukusECONOMICS the value of the goods and services that a country produces, compared with the amount of debt it has, used as a way of measuring how successful the economy of a particular country is:
In some countries debt ratios exceed 100% of GDP.
FINANCE a measurement of a company's ability to borrow money and pay it back, that is calculated by dividing the total amount of all kinds of debt that is owed by the amount that shareholders have invested. This method can be used by investors to decide whether or not to invest in a company:
The company has a healthy balance sheet, with strong cash flow and low debt ratios.