What country has the most debt? (2024)

What country has the most debt?

United States. The United States boasts both the world's biggest national debt in terms of dollar amount and its largest economy, which resolves to a debt-to GDP ratio

of approximately 128.13%. The United States' government's spending exceeds its income most years, and the US has not had a budget surplus since 2001.

Which country has the highest debt rate in the world?

At the top is Japan, whose national debt has remained above 100% of its GDP for two decades, reaching 255% in 2023.

What country owns most of our debt?

Which country has the lowest debt?

Why is US debt so high?

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.

Will the US ever get out of debt?

Economists at the Penn Wharton Budget Model estimate that financial markets cannot sustain more than twenty additional years of deficits. At that point, they argue, no amount of tax increases or spending cuts would suffice to avert a devastating default.

Who owns over 70% of the U.S. 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.

Who holds the most U.S. dollars?

Of the total held by foreign countries, Japan and Mainland China held the greatest portions, with China holding 797.7 billion U.S. dollars in U.S. securities. Other foreign holders included oil exporting countries and Caribbean banking centers.

Who has the worst debt?

The United States has the world's highest national debt at $31.4 trillion. Global debt currently stands at $305 trillion, $45 trillion higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF) – a global association of the financial industry.

Who owns the US debt?

There are two kinds of national debt: intragovernmental and public. Intragovernmental is debt held by the Federal Reserve and Social Security and other government agencies. Public debt is held by the public: individual investors, institutions, foreign governments.

Does Russia have debt?

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.

What happens if China dumps US bonds?

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.

Does Russia hold US debt?

The value of U.S. Treasury securities held by residents of Russia amounted to 33 million U.S. dollars in June 2023, the lowest over the period under consideration. Furthermore, in March 2020, the figure decreased sharply to 3.85 billion U.S. dollars, down from 12.6 billion U.S. dollars one month prior.

Why is Japan's debt not a problem?

Around 70% of Japanese government bonds are purchased by the Bank of Japan, and much of the remainder is purchased by Japanese banks and trust funds, which largely insulates the prices and yields of such bonds from the effects of the global bond market and reduces their sensitivity to credit rating changes.

How much is America worth?

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).

How can the US fix its debt?

What happens if U.S. debt gets too high?

A nation saddled with debt will have less to invest in its own future. Rising debt means fewer economic opportunities for Americans. Rising debt reduces business investment and slows economic growth. It also increases expectations of higher rates of inflation and erosion of confidence in the U.S. dollar.

Which country borrows the most money from World Bank?

India takes the top spot. Its $39.7bn debt towards the WB recorded at the end of 2021 is double that of the next biggest debtor, Indonesia, with $19.6bn. Pakistan and Bangladesh follow with $18.3bn and $17.8bn, respectively, according to WB figures.

Which country does not owe?

1. Hong Kong —0.1%. Hong Kong's market-driven economy is characterised by a lucrative financial banking sector, well-regulated financial controls, large foreign exchange reserves, and virtually no public debt. Its GDP per capita is the sixth highest in the world globally at £32,000, slightly lower than Brunei's.

What is Canada's debt?

Why can't the US pay off its debt?

The federal government needs to borrow money to pay its bills when its ongoing spending activities and investments cannot be funded by federal revenues alone. Decreases in federal revenue are largely due to either a decrease in tax rates or individuals or corporations making less money.

What does the US spend the most money on?

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.

What would happen if the US printed enough money to cover all the debts?

Printing more money is a non-starter because it'd break our economy. “It would take care of the debt but at a price that's far too high to pay,” Snaith says.

Can China call in U.S. debt?

Nations like China typically hold US debt in the form of various US Treasury debt, including bonds and other notes. None of these instruments allow debt holders to simply demand repayment…you get the terms and conditions associated with the bond and there's little flexibility to “calling in all of their debts”.

Do we owe China money?

China is one of the United States's largest creditors, owning about $859.4 billion in U.S. debt.