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

Global government debt stands at approximately $118.43 trillion ($118,434,126,532,856) as of October 22, 2026.

World government debt is growing at an estimated $274,244 per second.

Governments worldwide add roughly $23.7 billion in new debt every day.

On current trend, world government debt rises by about $8.65 trillion per year.

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

World government debt equals roughly $14,621 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 $40.37 trillion ($40,368,926,378,229) as of October 22, 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 $117,749.

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

The U.S. national debt crossed $40 trillion on August 18, 2026, by the Treasury's own daily figures; it now stands at approximately $40.37 trillion.

At its current growth rate, U.S. government debt is projected to reach the next round milestone of $41 trillion around February 20, 2027, about 121 days from now.

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

China's government debt is approximately $21.88 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 205% — its debt totals about $8.75 trillion.

The five largest sovereign debtors (the United States, China, Japan, the United Kingdom, France) owe a combined $79.45 trillion — about 67.1% of all government debt worldwide.

The ten largest sovereign debtors account for approximately 80.4% of global government debt ($95.28 trillion).

The Americas is the region with the largest combined government debt, at approximately $48.73 trillion.

19 of the 135 sovereign governments tracked carry debt exceeding 100% of their GDP.

24 of 135 tracked sovereigns have government debt above 90% of GDP.

55 of 135 tracked sovereigns exceed the 60% debt-to-GDP threshold used in the EU's Maastricht criteria.

16 of 135 tracked sovereigns keep government debt below 30% of GDP.

The median debt-to-GDP ratio across 135 tracked sovereigns is approximately 55.0%.

Japan has the highest government debt-to-GDP ratio of any tracked sovereign, at approximately 205% of GDP, followed by Sudan at 204%.

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 $180,617 per person.

China has the fastest-growing government debt in dollar terms, adding roughly $99,328 per second — ahead of the United States at $60,200 per second.

5 of the 135 tracked sovereigns currently show flat or near-zero government debt growth in the model.