The country in the most debt owes a staggering £29 trillion – and stil spends a £3.6 trillion a year.
The astonishing figures belong to the United States, which is of course the world’s largest economy and spends more on its defences and public services than any other nation.
But the United States also has the world’s largest GDP, with its population generating a total of £21 trillion a year.
And because of its huge GDP the United States can trade off against its debts, so its actual debt-to-GDP ratio means it is not one of the world’s most indebted nations.
If using the debt to GDP ratio as measure then Lebanon’s debt-to-GDP ration at 349.88% is the highest in the world, and the United States drops to spot 12 at 121.31%, according to World Population Review.
According to US Treasury Fiscal Data most of the US debt is in government bonds, or US Treasuries which have been bought by investors and even countries around the world.
Because of its huge economy the US is not, currently at least, in danger of default on its debt which is why governments around the world invest in US government bonds. Some of the biggest investors in the US will probably surprise most people.
The countries to which the US is most in debt are Japan, which itself has significant debt, and China, which is often viewed as the United States’ greatest economic competitor.
China, which is the world’s second largest economy with a GDP of £14 trillion, is large buyer of US government bonds as is Japan.
China and Japan are the worlds second and third largest economies, but are in not quite so much debt as the US.
China owes 76.98% of its GDP as debt trillion although that has gone up since 2014, when the national debt was 41.54% of the country’s GDP
China currently has the world’s second-largest economy and the largest population, with approximately 1.412 billion people.
Japan has the second highest percentage of national debt in the world at 255.07% of its annual GDP, according to 2022 data, just behind Lebanon at almost 350%.
The United Kingdom appears to be relatively frugal by comparison with a debt of £2 trillion and a GDP of £3 trillion.