United States Has Perfect Rating at 2/3 of Largest Credit Rating Agencies

Thanks to the summer downgrade of the United States and the current debt crisis that is engulfing Europe, everybody is talking about sovereign credit ratings.

One question that I hear all the time is - which countries have the strongest credit ratings?

First off, it's important to note that there are three major credit rating agencies - Standard and Poor's, Moody's and Fitch. The ratings that these three agencies have on countries throughout the world are largely similar, though there are some differences. For instance, Standard and Poor's currently has a AA+ rating on the United States, while Moody's and Fitch are both still at AAA.

Standard & Poor's currently has 16 countries rated with a perfect AAA credit rating. They are:

Hong Kong
Germany
Denmark
Finland
France
Austria
Australia
Canada
Norway
Netherlands
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Singapore
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom

Of these 16 countries, six are currently on a negative credit watch, which means that there is a 50/50 chance of a downgrade over the near-term. Those six countries are Germany, Finland, France, Austria, Netherlands and Luxembourg.

As mentioned, S&P currently has the United States listed with a rating of AA+.

Now let's take a look at Fitch.

Fitch currently has 15 countries listed with a credit rating of AAA. They are:

Finland
France
Germany
Austria
Australia
Canada
Denmark
Netherlands
Norway
Luxembourg
Sweden
Singapore
Switzerland
United States
United Kingdom

All 15 countries have a "stable" outlook, which means that their ratings are safe, at least for now.

Lastly, let's take a look at Moody's, which currently has a total of 17 countries listed with a perfect Aaa rating:

Isle of Man
Denmark
France
Finland
Germany
Australia
Austria
Canada
New Zealand
Netherlands
Norway
Luxembourg
Singapore
Sweden
Switzerland
United States
United Kingdom

Of the 17 countries, one (United States) has a negative outlook, which means that it is at risk of losing its Aaa rating.

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Of the 190+ countries in the world, Norway is generally regarded as being the best credit risk.

Filed under: General Knowledge