$69 Trillion of World Debt in One Infographic

[size=1.1]Two decades ago, total government debt was estimated to sit at $20 trillion.

[size=1.1]Since then, according to the latest figures by the IMF, the number has ballooned to $69.3 trillion with a debt to GDP ratio of 82% — the highest totals in human history.

[size=1.1]Which countries owe the most money, and how do these figures compare?

The Regional Breakdown

[size=1.1]Let’s start by looking at the continental level, to get an idea of how world debt is divided from a geographical perspective:

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[size=1.1]In absolute terms, over 90% of global debt is concentrated in North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe — meanwhile, regions like Africa, South America, and other account for less than 10%.

[size=1.1]This is not surprising, since advanced economies hold most of the world’s debt (about 75.4%), while emerging or developing economies hold the rest.

World Debt by Country

[size=1.1]Now let’s look at individual countries, according to data released by the IMF in October 2019.

[size=1.1]It’s worth mentioning that the following numbers are representative of 2018 data, and that for a tiny subset of countries (i.e. Syria) we used the latest available numbers as an estimate.

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[size=1.1]In absolute terms, the most indebted nation is the United States, which has a gross debt of $21.5 trillion according to the IMF as of 2018.

[size=1.1]If you’re looking for a more precise figure for 2019, the U.S. government’s “Debt to the Penny” dataset puts the amount owing to exactly $23,015,089,744,090.63 as of November 12, 2019.

[size=1.1]Of course, the U.S. is also the world’s largest economy in nominal terms, putting the debt to GDP ratio at 104.3%

[size=1.1]Other stand outs from the list above include Japan, which has the highest debt to GDP ratio (237.1%), and China , which has increased government debt by almost $2 trillion in just the last two years. Meanwhile, the European economies of Italy and Belgium check the box as other large debtors with ratios topping 100% debt to GDP.