Which Countries Hold the Highest Credit Ratings?

Credit ratings assess a borrower’s ability to repay debts. Various companies issue them, although the opinions of Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service, and S&P Global Ratings generally hold the most weight in influencing how easy and expensive it is for a country to borrow money.

As of May 25, 2025, 10 countries have perfect credit ratings from all three ratings companies. They are Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, and Switzerland. In addition, Liechtenstein holds a perfect rating from S&P, the only one of the big three to issue a rating for the tiny European country.

Importance of Credit Ratings

A key way for governments to raise money is by issuing debt. Sovereign bonds enable countries to borrow money from investors, who play the role of a bank, lending a certain amount and getting paid interest until, hopefully, the initial sum lent is returned when the bond matures.

If a country’s credit rating is high, meaning there’s an excellent chance the lender will get its money back, investors will demand relatively less compensation for lending the money, which takes the form of interest on the bond. Conversely, if the rating is low, the country is generally going to need to pay more interest to get people to risk lending it money.

The authority of the big three credit rating companies has been significantly diminished since the global financial crisis. In fact, borrowing by the U.S. largely continued as usual after its credit was downgraded by S&P in 2011 and Fitch in 2023, and Moody’s downgrade in May 2025 was also largely shrugged off, though some saw it as a “wake-up call for those investors who had been ignoring the ongoing fiscal discussion.”

But for other countries with less-scrutinized economies and finances, credit ratings more directly impact how much they can borrow and at what cost. The ripple effect can be significant, influencing key government policies and the entire economy.

Why the U.S. Credit Rating Was Lowered

In lowering the U.S.’s credit rating, Moody’s cited concerns that the country’s debt burden is spiraling out of control. That downgrade meant, for the first time ever, that none of the three major credit rating firms view the U.S. as a borrower of the highest standards.

Moody’s outlined two key reasons for expelling the U.S. from its list of perfect debtors.

• Too much debt. The U.S. government has spent more than it collected every year since 2001 and is now $36 trillion in debt.
• High repayments. Years of inflation have greatly increased the cost of servicing the U.S.’s debt. In 2024, it spent $881 billion on interest payments, which is more than triple the 2017 outlay.

The Bottom Line

Once a big deal even for the U.S., credit ratings from the big three ratings firms are less influential than they used to be, in part because in this era the ratings firms are often reacting to information that is already widely known and absorbed by markets. (U.S. Treasury yields are rising because most investors are well aware of the U.S.’s debt problem and the growing threat that inflation will be reignited.)

Still, a pristine credit rating is something that can help countries with the cost of borrowing. Only ten countries are viewed by the three major credit rating companies as perfect debtors, and the U.S. isn’t one of them.