Asia has seen a substantial debt buildup in recent years. Debt growth reaccelerated during and after the 2008 global financial crisis as fiscal stabilisers kicked in and some policymakers tried to mitigate the effects of the downturn in their countries. Japan has the highest debt level as a percentage of gross domestic product among any major economies in the world, and this ratio has increased over most years in the past half-century, according to a research report by Goldman Sachs. Adjusting for the typical pace of "financial deepening" - the rise in debt-GDP ratios as societies get richer and financial markets develop - several other regional economies have relatively high debt loads for their stage of development such as China, South Korea and Malaysia. And China stands out for the rapidity of its increase, the largest-ever in historical dollar terms.