World Debt Statistics — Key Facts & Citable Figures (2026)

Global government debt stands at approximately $117.52 trillion ($117,517,620,154,456) as of September 7, 2026.

World government debt is growing at an estimated $279,686 per second.

Governments worldwide add roughly $24.2 billion in new debt every day.

On current trend, world government debt rises by about $8.83 trillion per year.

Global public debt increases by $1 billion approximately every 1.0 hours.

World government debt equals roughly $14,508 for every person on Earth (8.1 billion people).

Global government debt is equivalent to approximately 94% of world GDP.

The United States national debt is approximately $40.11 trillion ($40,107,771,377,441) as of September 7, 2026 — the largest of any country.

The U.S. national debt grows by roughly $5.2 billion per day, or $60,200 every second.

On its current trajectory, U.S. government debt increases by about $1.90 trillion per year.

U.S. national debt per citizen is approximately $119,351.

U.S. government debt equals approximately 124% of GDP.

The U.S. national debt crossed $40 trillion on August 17, 2026; it now stands at approximately $40.11 trillion.

At its current growth rate, U.S. government debt is projected to reach the next round milestone of $41 trillion around February 25, 2027, about 172 days from now.

The United States accounts for approximately 34.1% of all government debt worldwide.

China's government debt is approximately $21.40 trillion, the second-largest of any country (on the narrow general-government basis; the IMF's augmented measure including LGFVs is substantially higher).

Japan has the highest debt-to-GDP ratio of any major developed economy, at approximately 207% — its debt totals about $9.02 trillion.

The five largest sovereign debtors (United States, China, Japan, United Kingdom, France) owe a combined $78.98 trillion — about 67.2% of all government debt worldwide.

The ten largest sovereign debtors account for approximately 80.5% of global government debt ($94.64 trillion).

Americas is the region with the largest combined government debt, at approximately $48.41 trillion.

20 of the 137 sovereign governments tracked carry debt exceeding 100% of their GDP.

27 of 137 tracked sovereigns have government debt above 90% of GDP.

57 of 137 tracked sovereigns exceed the 60% debt-to-GDP threshold used in the EU's Maastricht criteria.

16 of 137 tracked sovereigns keep government debt below 30% of GDP.

The median debt-to-GDP ratio across 137 tracked sovereigns is approximately 55.0%.

Venezuela has the highest government debt-to-GDP ratio of any tracked sovereign, at approximately 240% of GDP, followed by Japan at 207%.

Somalia has the lowest government debt-to-GDP ratio of any tracked sovereign, at approximately 9% of GDP.

Singapore carries the highest government debt per citizen, at approximately $189,036 per person.

China has the fastest-growing government debt in dollar terms, adding roughly $89,129 per second — ahead of United States at $60,200 per second.

8 of the 137 tracked sovereigns currently show flat or near-zero government debt growth in the model.