What countries have the largest debt?
China and the US remain two of the leading countries with the highest debt-to-GDP ratios. Emerging economies and low-income economies are the most affected by debt vulnerabilities.
- Japan. Japan has the highest percentage of national debt in the world at 259.43% of its annual GDP. ...
- United States. ...
- China. ...
- Russia.
United States. The U.S. has the highest total external debt of any country by far, almost at the same level of the next three largest total external debt holders combined.
- Japan. Japan held $1.15 trillion in Treasury securities as of January 2024, beating out China as the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt. ...
- China. China gets a lot of attention for holding a big chunk of the U.S. government's debt. ...
- The United Kingdom. ...
- Luxembourg. ...
- Canada.
It began rising at a fast rate in the 1980's and was accelerated through events like the Iraq Wars and the 2008 Great Recession. Most recently, the debt made another big jump thanks to the pandemic with the federal government spending significantly more than it took in to keep the country running.
The United States is the undisputed heavyweight when it comes to the economies of the world. America's gross domestic product in 2022 was more than 40% greater than that of China, the world No. 2. Even more striking, U.S. GDP was over five times that of the next two largest economies, Japan and Germany.
Characteristic | National debt in relation to GDP |
---|---|
Macao SAR | 0% |
Brunei Darussalam | 2.06% |
Kuwait | 3.08% |
Hong Kong SAR | 4.27% |
In fact, Estonia is not only a successful country without hardly any debt, but also one of the wealthiest. Additionally, its long-term growth trajectory remains very strong. With just under a million and a half inhabitants, and no natural resources, Estonia was part of the Soviet Union until 1991.
- Brunei. 3.2%
- Afghanistan. 7.8%
- Kuwait. 11.5%
- Democratic Republic of Congo. 15.2%
- Eswatini. 15.5%
- Palestine. 16.4%
- Russia. 17.8%
Over the past 20 years, Japan and China have owned more US Treasurys than any other foreign nation. Between 2000 and 2022, Japan grew from owning $534 billion to just over $1 trillion, while China's ownership grew from $101 billion to $855 billion.
Who does the US owe its debt to?
Many people believe that much of the U.S. national debt is owed to foreign countries like China and Japan, but the truth is that most of it is owed to Social Security and pension funds right here in the U.S. This means that U.S. citizens own most of the national debt.
Of the $33T of debt, roughly 78% is owned by the public (70% US vs 30% International). The major US public owners include the FED ($6T, but they are no longer buyers), mutual funds, banks, states, pension funds and insurance companies.
Under current policy, the United States has about 20 years for corrective action after which no amount of future tax increases or spending cuts could avoid the government defaulting on its debt whether explicitly or implicitly (i.e., debt monetization producing significant inflation).
If China (or any other nation that has a trade surplus with the U.S.) stops buying U.S. Treasuries or even starts dumping its U.S. forex reserves, its trade surplus would become a trade deficit—something which no export-oriented economy would want, as they would be worse off as a result.
Debt as a share of GDP has risen to about the same level as in the United States, while in dollar terms China's total debt ($47.5 trillion) is still markedly below that of the United States (close to $70 trillion). As for non-financial corporate debt, China's 28 percent share is the largest in the world.
The financial position of the United States includes assets of at least $269 trillion (1576% of GDP) and debts of $145.8 trillion (852% of GDP) to produce a net worth of at least $123.8 trillion (723% of GDP).
Decreased savings and income
The private sector will stop seeking investments that can generate growth due to the incentive to save. This includes the lower amount of capital available once individuals stop investing in securities offered by businesses due to treasury securities being more attractive.
Nearly half of mandatory spending in 2022 was for Social Security and other income support programs such as the Child Tax Credit, food and nutrition assistance, and federal employee benefits (figure 3). Most of the remainder paid for the two major government health programs, Medicare and Medicaid.
- Sweden. Quality of life: 100/100 (#1 in the world) ...
- Canada. Quality of life: 93/100 (#3 in the world) ...
- Denmark. Quality of life: 91/100 (#4 in the world) ...
- Netherlands. Quality of life: 88/100 (#7 in the world) ...
- Australia. ...
- Germany. ...
- New Zealand. ...
- Belgium.
What did Obama do for the recession?
Stimulus. On February 17, 2009, Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a $831 billion economic stimulus package aimed at helping the economy recover from the deepening worldwide recession.
The organizations that make up the World Bank Group are owned by the governments of member nations, which have the ultimate decision-making power within the organizations on all matters, including policy, financial or membership issues.
Public debt in Russia averaged 15.4% of GDP in the decade to 2022, below the average of 32.5% of GDP for Eastern Europe. Public debt in Russia was 18.9% of GDP in 2022.
[2] A report by the credit rating agency S&P Global in 2022 estimated that 79 per cent of corporate debt in China was owed by SOEs (the IMF does not break down the proportion of debt owed by SOEs).
A country is in default when it can't pay its debts. This lowers its credit rating and decreases the cost of its debt. The country's entire economy can suffer and it may see less investment in the future as global investors become wary of buying that country's debt.