diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 57334deda..d8d1933d2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ The following methods have been added:
 - `addBasicAuth`
 - `addSecurity`
 - `addSecurityRequirements`
+- `addResponse`
 
 ## Support
 
diff --git a/e2e/api-spec.json b/e2e/api-spec.json
index 307b206ce..f840295a5 100644
--- a/e2e/api-spec.json
+++ b/e2e/api-spec.json
@@ -109,6 +109,12 @@
           },
           "403": {
             "description": "Forbidden."
+          },
+          "500": {
+            "description": "Internal server error"
+          },
+          "502": {
+            "$ref": "#/components/responses/502"
           }
         },
         "tags": [
@@ -223,6 +229,12 @@
         "responses": {
           "200": {
             "description": ""
+          },
+          "500": {
+            "description": "Internal server error"
+          },
+          "502": {
+            "$ref": "#/components/responses/502"
           }
         },
         "tags": [
@@ -276,6 +288,12 @@
                 }
               }
             }
+          },
+          "500": {
+            "description": "Internal server error"
+          },
+          "502": {
+            "$ref": "#/components/responses/502"
           }
         },
         "tags": [
@@ -422,6 +440,12 @@
         "responses": {
           "200": {
             "description": ""
+          },
+          "500": {
+            "description": "Internal server error"
+          },
+          "502": {
+            "$ref": "#/components/responses/502"
           }
         },
         "tags": [
@@ -470,6 +494,12 @@
         "responses": {
           "201": {
             "description": ""
+          },
+          "500": {
+            "description": "Internal server error"
+          },
+          "502": {
+            "$ref": "#/components/responses/502"
           }
         },
         "tags": [
@@ -528,6 +558,12 @@
           },
           "403": {
             "description": "Forbidden."
+          },
+          "500": {
+            "description": "Internal server error"
+          },
+          "502": {
+            "$ref": "#/components/responses/502"
           }
         },
         "tags": [
@@ -565,6 +601,12 @@
         "responses": {
           "200": {
             "description": ""
+          },
+          "500": {
+            "description": "Internal server error"
+          },
+          "502": {
+            "$ref": "#/components/responses/502"
           }
         },
         "tags": [
@@ -731,6 +773,11 @@
         "name": "connect.sid"
       }
     },
+    "responses": {
+      "502": {
+        "description": "Bad gateway"
+      }
+    },
     "schemas": {
       "ExtraModel": {
         "type": "object",
diff --git a/e2e/src/cats/cats.controller.ts b/e2e/src/cats/cats.controller.ts
index 1ea981fea..89248bd60 100644
--- a/e2e/src/cats/cats.controller.ts
+++ b/e2e/src/cats/cats.controller.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import { LettersEnum, PaginationQuery } from './dto/pagination-query.dto';
   description: 'Test',
   schema: { default: 'test' }
 })
+@ApiResponse({ status: 500, description: 'Internal server error' })
 @Controller('cats')
 export class CatsController {
   constructor(private readonly catsService: CatsService) {}
diff --git a/e2e/validate-schema.e2e-spec.ts b/e2e/validate-schema.e2e-spec.ts
index fbdc4b1bf..a6a381da0 100644
--- a/e2e/validate-schema.e2e-spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/validate-schema.e2e-spec.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ describe('Validate OpenAPI schema', () => {
       .addCookieAuth()
       .addSecurityRequirements('bearer')
       .addSecurityRequirements({ basic: [], cookie: [] })
+      .addResponse({
+        status: 502,
+        description: 'Bad gateway'
+      })
       .build();
   });
 
diff --git a/lib/document-builder.ts b/lib/document-builder.ts
index 0be9a8c8f..58124c2f4 100644
--- a/lib/document-builder.ts
+++ b/lib/document-builder.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 import { Logger } from '@nestjs/common';
-import { isString, isUndefined, negate, pickBy } from 'lodash';
+import { isString, isUndefined, negate, pickBy, omit } from 'lodash';
 import { buildDocumentBase } from './fixtures/document.base';
 import { OpenAPIObject } from './interfaces';
+import { ApiResponseOptions } from './decorators/';
 import {
   ExternalDocumentationObject,
   SecurityRequirementObject,
+  ResponseObject,
   SecuritySchemeObject,
   ServerVariableObject,
   TagObject
@@ -182,7 +184,16 @@ export class DocumentBuilder {
     return this;
   }
 
-  public build(): Omit<OpenAPIObject, 'paths'> {
+  public addResponse(options: ApiResponseOptions): this {
+    this.document.components.responses = {
+      ...(this.document.components.responses || {}),
+      [options.status]: omit(options, 'status') as ResponseObject
+    };
+
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  public build(): Omit<OpenAPIObject, 'components' | 'paths'> {
     return this.document;
   }
 }
diff --git a/lib/explorers/api-response.explorer.ts b/lib/explorers/api-response.explorer.ts
index 2eda59425..1476e10cf 100644
--- a/lib/explorers/api-response.explorer.ts
+++ b/lib/explorers/api-response.explorer.ts
@@ -1,20 +1,17 @@
 import { HttpStatus, RequestMethod, Type } from '@nestjs/common';
 import { HTTP_CODE_METADATA, METHOD_METADATA } from '@nestjs/common/constants';
-import { isEmpty } from '@nestjs/common/utils/shared.utils';
-import { get, mapValues, omit } from 'lodash';
+import { get } from 'lodash';
 import { DECORATORS } from '../constants';
 import { ApiResponseMetadata } from '../decorators';
 import { SchemaObject } from '../interfaces/open-api-spec.interface';
-import { ResponseObjectFactory } from '../services/response-object-factory';
+import { mapResponsesToSwaggerResponses } from '../utils/map-responses-to-swagger-responses.util';
 import { mergeAndUniq } from '../utils/merge-and-uniq.util';
 
-const responseObjectFactory = new ResponseObjectFactory();
-
 export const exploreGlobalApiResponseMetadata = (
   schemas: Record<string, SchemaObject>,
   metatype: Type<unknown>
 ) => {
-  const responses: ApiResponseMetadata[] = Reflect.getMetadata(
+  const responses: Record<string, ApiResponseMetadata> = Reflect.getMetadata(
     DECORATORS.API_RESPONSE,
     metatype
   );
@@ -68,19 +65,3 @@ const getStatusCode = (method: Function) => {
       return HttpStatus.OK;
   }
 };
-
-const omitParamType = (param: Record<string, any>) => omit(param, 'type');
-const mapResponsesToSwaggerResponses = (
-  responses: ApiResponseMetadata[],
-  schemas: Record<string, SchemaObject>,
-  produces: string[] = ['application/json']
-) => {
-  produces = isEmpty(produces) ? ['application/json'] : produces;
-
-  const openApiResponses = mapValues(
-    responses,
-    (response: ApiResponseMetadata) =>
-      responseObjectFactory.create(response, produces, schemas)
-  );
-  return mapValues(openApiResponses, omitParamType);
-};
diff --git a/lib/swagger-explorer.ts b/lib/swagger-explorer.ts
index c539bf521..349fff381 100644
--- a/lib/swagger-explorer.ts
+++ b/lib/swagger-explorer.ts
@@ -26,12 +26,14 @@ import {
   isArray,
   isEmpty,
   mapValues,
+  merge,
   omit,
   omitBy,
   pick
 } from 'lodash';
 import * as pathToRegexp from 'path-to-regexp';
 import { DECORATORS } from './constants';
+import { ApiResponseOptions } from './decorators/';
 import { exploreApiExcludeControllerMetadata } from './explorers/api-exclude-controller.explorer';
 import { exploreApiExcludeEndpointMetadata } from './explorers/api-exclude-endpoint.explorer';
 import {
@@ -57,6 +59,7 @@ import { DenormalizedDocResolvers } from './interfaces/denormalized-doc-resolver
 import { DenormalizedDoc } from './interfaces/denormalized-doc.interface';
 import {
   OpenAPIObject,
+  ResponsesObject,
   SchemaObject
 } from './interfaces/open-api-spec.interface';
 import { MimetypeContentWrapper } from './services/mimetype-content-wrapper';
@@ -79,6 +82,7 @@ export class SwaggerExplorer {
     applicationConfig: ApplicationConfig,
     modulePath?: string | undefined,
     globalPrefix?: string | undefined,
+    globalResponses?: ResponsesObject,
     operationIdFactory?: (controllerKey: string, methodKey: string) => string
   ) {
     this.routePathFactory = new RoutePathFactory(applicationConfig);
@@ -105,7 +109,8 @@ export class SwaggerExplorer {
       documentResolvers,
       applicationConfig,
       modulePath,
-      globalPrefix
+      globalPrefix,
+      globalResponses
     );
   }
 
@@ -120,7 +125,8 @@ export class SwaggerExplorer {
     documentResolvers: DenormalizedDocResolvers,
     applicationConfig: ApplicationConfig,
     modulePath?: string,
-    globalPrefix?: string
+    globalPrefix?: string,
+    globalResponses?: ResponsesObject
   ): DenormalizedDoc[] {
     // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-this-alias
     const self = this;
@@ -129,7 +135,12 @@ export class SwaggerExplorer {
     if (excludeController) {
       return [];
     }
-    const globalMetadata = this.exploreGlobalMetadata(metatype);
+    const globalMetadata = this.exploreGlobalMetadata(
+      // Responses is not a property of `OpenAPIObject`, but that's what's
+      // being returned (incorrect type) by this.exploreGlobalMetadata(...).
+      { responses: globalResponses } as Partial<OpenAPIObject>,
+      metatype
+    );
     const ctrlExtraModels = exploreGlobalApiExtraModelsMetadata(metatype);
     this.registerExtraModels(ctrlExtraModels);
 
@@ -225,6 +236,7 @@ export class SwaggerExplorer {
   }
 
   private exploreGlobalMetadata(
+    metadataBase: Partial<OpenAPIObject>,
     metatype: Type<unknown>
   ): Partial<OpenAPIObject> {
     const globalExplorers = [
@@ -243,8 +255,9 @@ export class SwaggerExplorer {
             chunks: (curr.chunks || []).concat(next)
           };
         }
-        return { ...curr, ...next };
-      }, {});
+
+        return merge({}, curr, next);
+      }, metadataBase);
 
     return globalMetadata;
   }
diff --git a/lib/swagger-module.ts b/lib/swagger-module.ts
index adbde890f..9dc652404 100644
--- a/lib/swagger-module.ts
+++ b/lib/swagger-module.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export class SwaggerModule {
     options: SwaggerDocumentOptions = {}
   ): OpenAPIObject {
     const swaggerScanner = new SwaggerScanner();
-    const document = swaggerScanner.scanApplication(app, options);
+    const document = swaggerScanner.scanApplication(app, options, config);
 
     document.components = assignTwoLevelsDeep(
       {},
diff --git a/lib/swagger-scanner.ts b/lib/swagger-scanner.ts
index 104a3c02d..e2bff0ece 100644
--- a/lib/swagger-scanner.ts
+++ b/lib/swagger-scanner.ts
@@ -5,9 +5,11 @@ import { NestContainer } from '@nestjs/core/injector/container';
 import { InstanceWrapper } from '@nestjs/core/injector/instance-wrapper';
 import { InstanceToken, Module } from '@nestjs/core/injector/module';
 import { flatten, isEmpty } from 'lodash';
+import { ApiResponseOptions } from './decorators/';
 import { OpenAPIObject, SwaggerDocumentOptions } from './interfaces';
 import {
   ReferenceObject,
+  ResponsesObject,
   SchemaObject
 } from './interfaces/open-api-spec.interface';
 import { ModelPropertiesAccessor } from './services/model-properties-accessor';
@@ -15,8 +17,10 @@ import { SchemaObjectFactory } from './services/schema-object-factory';
 import { SwaggerTypesMapper } from './services/swagger-types-mapper';
 import { SwaggerExplorer } from './swagger-explorer';
 import { SwaggerTransformer } from './swagger-transformer';
+import { mapResponsesToSwaggerResponses } from './utils/map-responses-to-swagger-responses.util';
 import { getGlobalPrefix } from './utils/get-global-prefix';
 import { stripLastSlash } from './utils/strip-last-slash.util';
+import { transformResponsesToRefs } from './utils/transform-responses-to-refs.util';
 
 export class SwaggerScanner {
   private readonly transfomer = new SwaggerTransformer();
@@ -28,7 +32,8 @@ export class SwaggerScanner {
 
   public scanApplication(
     app: INestApplication,
-    options: SwaggerDocumentOptions
+    options: SwaggerDocumentOptions,
+    config: Omit<OpenAPIObject, 'paths'>
   ): Omit<OpenAPIObject, 'openapi' | 'info'> {
     const {
       deepScanRoutes,
@@ -37,6 +42,7 @@ export class SwaggerScanner {
       ignoreGlobalPrefix = false,
       operationIdFactory
     } = options;
+    const schemas = this.explorer.getSchemas();
 
     const container = (app as any).container as NestContainer;
     const internalConfigRef = (app as any).config as ApplicationConfig;
@@ -48,6 +54,10 @@ export class SwaggerScanner {
     const globalPrefix = !ignoreGlobalPrefix
       ? stripLastSlash(getGlobalPrefix(app))
       : '';
+    const globalResponses = mapResponsesToSwaggerResponses(
+      config.components.responses as Record<string, ApiResponseOptions>,
+      schemas
+    );
 
     const denormalizedPaths = modules.map(
       ({ routes, metatype, relatedModules }) => {
@@ -71,6 +81,7 @@ export class SwaggerScanner {
                   modulePath,
                   globalPrefix,
                   internalConfigRef,
+                  transformResponsesToRefs(globalResponses),
                   operationIdFactory
                 )
               );
@@ -83,18 +94,19 @@ export class SwaggerScanner {
             modulePath,
             globalPrefix,
             internalConfigRef,
+            transformResponsesToRefs(globalResponses),
             operationIdFactory
           )
         );
       }
     );
 
-    const schemas = this.explorer.getSchemas();
     this.addExtraModels(schemas, extraModels);
 
     return {
       ...this.transfomer.normalizePaths(flatten(denormalizedPaths)),
       components: {
+        responses: globalResponses as ResponsesObject,
         schemas: schemas as Record<string, SchemaObject | ReferenceObject>
       }
     };
@@ -105,6 +117,7 @@ export class SwaggerScanner {
     modulePath: string | undefined,
     globalPrefix: string | undefined,
     applicationConfig: ApplicationConfig,
+    globalResponses?: ResponsesObject,
     operationIdFactory?: (controllerKey: string, methodKey: string) => string
   ): Array<Omit<OpenAPIObject, 'openapi' | 'info'> & Record<'root', any>> {
     const denormalizedArray = [...routes.values()].map((ctrl) =>
@@ -113,6 +126,7 @@ export class SwaggerScanner {
         applicationConfig,
         modulePath,
         globalPrefix,
+        globalResponses,
         operationIdFactory
       )
     );
diff --git a/lib/utils/map-responses-to-swagger-responses.util.ts b/lib/utils/map-responses-to-swagger-responses.util.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..24c672bb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/utils/map-responses-to-swagger-responses.util.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import { mapValues, omit } from 'lodash';
+import { isEmpty } from '@nestjs/common/utils/shared.utils';
+import { ApiResponseMetadata } from '../decorators';
+import { SchemaObject } from '../interfaces/open-api-spec.interface';
+import { ResponseObjectFactory } from '../services/response-object-factory';
+
+const responseObjectFactory = new ResponseObjectFactory();
+const omitParamType = (param: Record<string, any>) => omit(param, 'type');
+
+export function mapResponsesToSwaggerResponses(
+  responses: Record<string, ApiResponseMetadata>,
+  schemas: Record<string, SchemaObject>,
+  produces: string[] = ['application/json']
+) {
+  produces = isEmpty(produces) ? ['application/json'] : produces;
+
+  const openApiResponses = mapValues(
+    responses,
+    (response: ApiResponseMetadata) =>
+      responseObjectFactory.create(response, produces, schemas)
+  );
+  return mapValues(openApiResponses, omitParamType);
+}
diff --git a/lib/utils/transform-responses-to-refs.util.ts b/lib/utils/transform-responses-to-refs.util.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8f69282fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/utils/transform-responses-to-refs.util.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import { mapValues } from 'lodash';
+import { ApiResponseOptions } from '../decorators';
+import { ReferenceObject } from '../interfaces/open-api-spec.interface';
+
+export function transformResponsesToRefs(
+  globalResponses: Record<string, ApiResponseOptions>
+): Record<string, ReferenceObject> {
+  return mapValues(globalResponses, (value, key) => ({
+    $ref: `#/components/responses/${key}`
+  }));
+}
diff --git a/test/explorer/swagger-explorer.spec.ts b/test/explorer/swagger-explorer.spec.ts
index 3b703afe4..ceaab5de2 100644
--- a/test/explorer/swagger-explorer.spec.ts
+++ b/test/explorer/swagger-explorer.spec.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ import {
   ApiParam,
   ApiProduces,
   ApiProperty,
-  ApiQuery
+  ApiQuery,
+  ApiResponse
 } from '../../lib/decorators';
 import { DenormalizedDoc } from '../../lib/interfaces/denormalized-doc.interface';
 import { ResponseObject } from '../../lib/interfaces/open-api-spec.interface';
@@ -132,6 +133,7 @@ describe('SwaggerExplorer', () => {
         new ApplicationConfig(),
         'modulePath',
         'globalPrefix',
+        undefined,
         methodKeyOperationIdFactory
       );
       const operationPrefix = '';
@@ -149,6 +151,7 @@ describe('SwaggerExplorer', () => {
         new ApplicationConfig(),
         'modulePath',
         'globalPrefix',
+        undefined,
         controllerKeyMethodKeyOperationIdFactory
       );
       const operationPrefix = 'FooController.';
@@ -387,6 +390,7 @@ describe('SwaggerExplorer', () => {
         new ApplicationConfig(),
         undefined,
         'globalPrefix',
+        undefined,
         methodKeyOperationIdFactory
       );
       const prefix = '';
@@ -404,6 +408,7 @@ describe('SwaggerExplorer', () => {
         new ApplicationConfig(),
         undefined,
         'globalPrefix',
+        undefined,
         controllerKeyMethodKeyOperationIdFactory
       );
       const prefix = 'FooController.';
@@ -560,6 +565,7 @@ describe('SwaggerExplorer', () => {
         new ApplicationConfig(),
         'modulePath',
         undefined,
+        undefined,
         methodKeyOperationIdFactory
       );
       const operationPrefix = '';
@@ -577,6 +583,7 @@ describe('SwaggerExplorer', () => {
         new ApplicationConfig(),
         'modulePath',
         undefined,
+        undefined,
         controllerKeyMethodKeyOperationIdFactory
       );
       const operationPrefix = 'FooController.';
@@ -1343,4 +1350,62 @@ describe('SwaggerExplorer', () => {
     })
 
   });
+
+  describe('when global responses defined', () => {
+    @Controller('')
+    @ApiResponse({
+      status: 500,
+      description: '500 - controller error response'
+    })
+    @ApiResponse({
+      status: 502,
+      description: '502 - controller error response'
+    })
+    class FooController {
+      @Post('foos')
+      @ApiResponse({
+        status: 200,
+        description: '200 - method response'
+      })
+      @ApiResponse({
+        status: 500,
+        description: '500 - method error response'
+      })
+      get(): Promise<any> {
+        return Promise.resolve({});
+      }
+    }
+
+    it('should merge global responses with explicit ones', () => {
+      const explorer = new SwaggerExplorer(schemaObjectFactory);
+      const routes = explorer.exploreController(
+        {
+          instance: new FooController(),
+          metatype: FooController
+        } as InstanceWrapper<FooController>,
+          new ApplicationConfig(),
+        'path',
+        '',
+        {
+          '500': { description: '500 - global error response' },
+          '502': { description: '502 - global error response' },
+          '504': { description: '504 - global error response' }
+        }
+      );
+
+      // GET
+      expect(
+        (routes[0].responses['200'] as ResponseObject).description
+      ).toEqual('200 - method response');
+      expect(
+        (routes[0].responses['500'] as ResponseObject).description
+      ).toEqual('500 - method error response');
+      expect(
+        (routes[0].responses['502'] as ResponseObject).description
+      ).toEqual('502 - controller error response');
+      expect(
+        (routes[0].responses['504'] as ResponseObject).description
+      ).toEqual('504 - global error response');
+    });
+  });
 });