Which country has highest debt?
At the top is Japan, whose national debt has remained above 100% of its GDP for two decades, reaching 255% in 2023.
- Japan. Japan has the highest percentage of national debt in the world at 259.43% of its annual GDP. ...
- United States. ...
- China. ...
- Russia.
Net debt (gross debt minus financial assets) of the Canadian general government decreased by $80.8 billion to $1,356.0 billion in 2022. The federal government's net debt declined by $31.7 billion (-3. 5%) and totalled $876.4 billion, while PTLGs' net debt decreased by $49.1 billion (-9. 3%) to $479.6 billion.
- Brunei. 3.2%
- Afghanistan. 7.8%
- Kuwait. 11.5%
- Democratic Republic of Congo. 15.2%
- Eswatini. 15.5%
- Palestine. 16.4%
- Russia. 17.8%
As of January 2023, the five countries owning the most US debt are Japan ($1.1 trillion), China ($859 billion), the United Kingdom ($668 billion), Belgium ($331 billion), and Luxembourg ($318 billion).
Essentially, the Japanese government's strategy is to borrow at an extremely cheap rate and invest in risky, high-return assets—a factor that partially explains why Japan can sustain a high level of debt despite running a consistent deficit.
In times of economic crisis, the government often collects less tax revenue and incurs additional expenses, which can increase debt significantly. Governments often increase taxes or propose budget cuts in the following years to recuperate.
By far, Canadian institutional investors hold most of Canada's debt. That includes insurance companies, banks, private pension funds, and government pension funds (including the Canada Pension Plan). Even the Bank of Canada holds Canadian debt. Together, they hold 76% of Canada's debt.
As of 2021, Canada's household debt is 7% higher than the country's entire GDP. This is an increase from 2010, when household debt was about 5% lower than Canada's GDP. By comparison, household debt in the US fell from 100% of the country's GDP in 2008 to about 75% in 2021.
China has little overseas debt, and a high national savings rate. In addition, most of the debt is state owned – state-controlled banks loaned funds to state-controlled firms – giving the government the ability to manage the situation.
Does China have debt?
China's debt-to-GDP ratio climbs to record 287.8% in 2023 - Nikkei Asia.
China owes the United States $1.3 trillion, which is the most debt out of all the countries that are its debtors. Japan was the primary debt holder until 2008, but now comes in second place, with $1.2 trillion. Other countries with outstanding U.S. debt include Russia, India and South Korea.
The public owes 74 percent of the current federal debt. Intragovernmental debt accounts for 26 percent or $5.9 trillion. The public includes foreign investors and foreign governments. These two groups account for 30 percent of the debt.
If China “dumped” USA treasuries, they would take a serious monetary loss. The price of the treasuries would drop, effective raising the return for those who bought the bonds.
Japan owns the most at $1.1 trillion, followed by China, with $859 billion, and the United Kingdom at $668 billion. In isolation, this $7.4 trillion amount is a lot, said Scott Morris, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development.
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. For more public debt information, visit our dedicated page.
Having no more debt means, that the government does not have to pay interest anymore. This can mean, that there is more money free to spend on other things like infrastructure or welfare.
Years of elevated budget deficits, exacerbated by massive federal spending during the COVID-19 pandemic, have taken the debt to historic levels: totaling more than $26 trillion in 2023, U.S. federal government debt is now at its highest percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) since World War II.
Russia National Government Debt reached 281.6 USD bn in Feb 2024, compared with 287.8 USD bn in the previous month. Russia National Government Debt data is updated monthly, available from May 2009 to Feb 2024. The data reached an all-time high of 384.2 USD bn in Jun 2022 and a record low of 86.1 USD bn in May 2009.
Though China owns a large amount of U.S. debt, it isn't the United States's largest creditor. The greatest amount of U.S. debt is owned by the U.S. government, while the largest foreign creditor is Japan. China owns around 2.6% of U.S. debt, which it buys because the Chinese yuan is pegged to the dollar.
How is Japan surviving with so much debt?
So, how has Japan managed to sustain itself in the face of such mounting debt? The answer lies in a clever strategy employed by the Japanese government. They use a scheme of monetizing government debt, where the Bank of Japan purchases government bonds to finance the government's spending needs.
The combined federal-provincial debt burden as a share of the economy ranges from a low of 43.5% in Alberta to a high of 92.6% in Nova Scotia. Quebec has the second highest debt burden relative to GDP at 88.0%.
About a quarter of Canadians can only make their minimum credit card payments, and 22 percent are sinking further into credit debt. As of Q3 2023, we owed a collective $113.4 billion on our credit cards, an eye-popping number attributed to growing interest rates and the ever-creeping cost of living.
The Trudeau government has more than $1.21 trillion of debt, and then paying the interest on that debt will cost something like $46.5 billion.
Spending on health care by provincial, territorial, and local governments combined grew 4.5% from 2021 to $225.8 billion in 2022, maintaining its position as the largest expense of these governments, at over one-third (34.4%) of total spending.
