According to data published by London-based investment fintech Invezz, Japan, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and the US are the top five nations with the highest level of government 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.
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%.
In 1970, total foreign holdings accounted for $14.0 billion, or just 5 percent, of DHBP. As of December 2022, such holdings made up $7.3 trillion, or 30 percent, of DHBP. Of that amount, 54 percent was held by foreign governments while private investors held the remaining 46 percent.
Top 10 territories that own the most U.S. debt
Japan owns the most at $1.1 trillion, followed by China, with $859 billion, and the United Kingdom at $668 billion.
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).
estimates China's total government debt is about $23 trillion, a figure that includes the hidden borrowing of thousands of financing companies set up by provinces and cities.
The annual cost of debt will rise from $17.7bn in 2022-23 to a peak of $27.1bn in 2025-26, before reducing back down to $26bn in 2026-27, according to new estimates in the budget.
Australia also partners with the World Bank Group on specific development programs which support Australia's development policy priorities. Over the last five years, Australia's annual average contributions to the WBG (core and non-core) has been around USD400 million.
GDP in Australia is offically estimated to be $1.553 Trillion US dollars at the end of 2019. The economy of Australia is offically reported as having a debt-to-GDP ratio of 57.0%, indicating Australia's debt level is $881 Billion.
A flurry of big spending packages and ballooning social welfare costs for a rapidly ageing population have left Japan with a debt pile 263% the size of its economy - double the ratio for the United States and the highest among major economies.
Japan has the highest debt to GDP ratio, standing at 262%. This is followed by Venezuela at 241% and Greece at 193%. These countries have been grappling with significant debt burdens for some time, with various economic and political factors contributing to their high ratios.
The world is in debt. A record amount of debt. Three hundred trillion dollars, to be exact. That's the total amount that governments, households and corporations around the world owed in June 2022, as estimated by the Institute of International Finance.
So if the U.S. cannot pay its creditors, interest rates on U.S. debt would go up, creating a cascade of higher interest rates. So mortgage rates, credit card rates, car loan rates. All would become more expensive. Finally, there is a real concern about the economy — that a default could spark a recession.
Total world debt (public plus non-financial private debt stocks) declined 10 percentage points of GDP in 2021, to 247 percent of GDP (US$ 235 trillion). This follows the largest one-year increase in global debt in 2020, when it rose by 29 percentage points of GDP.
At the start of 2007, prior to the Global Financial Crisis, Australian Government gross debt was under $52 billion. Between 2007 and March 2020 total Australian Government Securities (AGS) on issue increased to $580 billion, and is $897 billion as of 5 May 2023.
The majority (two-thirds) of our government debt is held by non-resident investors. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the United States and the United Kingdom are the biggest investors followed by Belgium, Japan and Hong Kong (SAR of China).
Australian Government debt was progressively reduced after the Second World War and largely eliminated by the beginning of the 1970s.
Individuals income tax. Individuals' income tax is the single most important source of government revenue. Since the mid 1970s it has consistently raised around half of the Australian Government's tax receipts and continues to be a stable and predictable source of revenue.
The world's 12th largest economy
Strong growth in 2021 solidified Australia's position as the world's 12th largest economy in 2021. Nominal GDP was around A$2.2 trillion (US$1.6 trillion) in 2021. Australia is home to just 0.3% of the world's population, but accounts for 1.7% of the global economy.
At the end of 2021, of the 98 countries for whom data was available, Pakistan ($27.4 billion of external debt to China), Angola (22.0 billion), Ethiopia (7.4 billion), Kenya (7.4 billion) and Sri Lanka (7.2 billion) held the biggest debts to China.
China and Japan are the largest foreign investors in American government debt. Together they own $2 trillion — more than a quarter — of the $7.6 trillion in US Treasury securities held by foreign countries.