International Debt Statistics (IDS) (2024)

FAQs

What is the world debt statistics? ›

Global debt rose by some $1.3 trillion to a new record high of $315 trillion in Q1 2024. Moreover, after three consecutive quarters of decline, the global debt-to-GDP resumed its upward trajectory in Q1 2024.

Data is from 1970 to present. The database combines observations from 'Quarterly External Debt Statistics' and 'Quarterly Public Sector Debt' published by the World Bank. (IDS was formerly known as 'Global Development Finance.

No country owes the bank more than India, Indonesia and Bangladesh. There are 121 low- and middle-income countries feeding into the World Bank's (WB) debtor reporting systems, but almost half of the $407bn owed to the Washington-based multilateral lender traces back to just 10 of them. India takes the top spot.

One of the main culprits is consistently overspending. When the federal government spends more than its budget, it creates a deficit. In the fiscal year of 2023, it spent about $381 billion more than it collected in revenues. To pay that deficit, the government borrows money.

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 largest holder of U.S. debt is the U.S government. Which agencies own the most Treasury notes, bills, and bonds? Social Security, by a long shot. The U.S. Treasury publishes this information in its monthly Treasury statement.

The United States pays interest on approximately $850 billion in debt held by the People's Republic of China. China, however, is currently in default on its sovereign debt held by American bondholders.

Will the US ever get out of debt? ›

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).

What countries does the U.S. owe money to? The United States owes money to many countries, including Japan, mainland China, the U.K., Ireland, Luxembourg, Brazil, Switzerland and Belgium, among others.

But most of Japan's debt is owned by domestic investors. The country's external position is bolstered by a large current account surplus and foreign exchange reserves worth more than $1 trillion. At the end of last year, Japan's overseas assets were around 84% of its annual economic output.

of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Kenya, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia.

According to the Institute of International Finance, the world is $315 trillion in debt. This combines borrowings from households, businesses and governments. With global debt at a record high, should we be concerned?

In U.S. dollars, global debt remained stable at USD 235 trillion. The fall in public debt slowed compared to the previous year, as it fell 3.6 percentage points of GDP to 92 percent of GDP in 2022. The fall over the last two years reversed about a half of the surge during the pandemic.

The world is drowning in a record amount of debt concentrated in developing countries. Global debt has hit a record $307 trillion in 2023. That includes the amount of money owed by corporations, governments and individuals around the world.

The $34 trillion gross federal debt equals debt held by the public plus debt held by federal trust funds and other government accounts. In very basic terms, this can be thought of as debt that the government owes to others plus debt that it owes to itself. Learn more about different ways to measure our national debt.