This paper presents a new dataset on public debt, addressing the limitations of commonly used sources such as the International Financial Statistics (IFS) and World Development Indicators (WDI). The dataset includes complete series of central government debt for 89 countries over the 1991-2005 period and for seven other countries from 1993-2005. The authors compiled the data from various sources, including IFS, WDI, the OECD's Central Government Debt Statistical Yearbook, and secondary sources like official websites and reports. The dataset covers a wide range of countries, providing comprehensive cross-country coverage of public debt. The paper highlights the higher levels of public debt in developing regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East compared to industrial countries, and notes that low-income countries have significantly higher debt levels than medium-income countries. The authors also discuss the variability in debt ratios among developing countries, which is greater than among industrial countries. The paper concludes by inviting users to provide feedback and suggestions for future updates to the dataset.This paper presents a new dataset on public debt, addressing the limitations of commonly used sources such as the International Financial Statistics (IFS) and World Development Indicators (WDI). The dataset includes complete series of central government debt for 89 countries over the 1991-2005 period and for seven other countries from 1993-2005. The authors compiled the data from various sources, including IFS, WDI, the OECD's Central Government Debt Statistical Yearbook, and secondary sources like official websites and reports. The dataset covers a wide range of countries, providing comprehensive cross-country coverage of public debt. The paper highlights the higher levels of public debt in developing regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East compared to industrial countries, and notes that low-income countries have significantly higher debt levels than medium-income countries. The authors also discuss the variability in debt ratios among developing countries, which is greater than among industrial countries. The paper concludes by inviting users to provide feedback and suggestions for future updates to the dataset.