The calculations include data from 178 economies that published GDP reports as of mid-2023. The consolidated public debt figure includes the debt of the central government, regions and municipalities.
Global public debt increased by 5.8% in 2023 and reached $101 trillion, while global GDP grew at a slower pace of 4.2% in nominal terms and stood at $105.4 trillion. Global public debt reached 95.8% of global GDP against 94.5% year-on-year.
The largest national debt, reaching $37.5 trillion, was recorded in the United States and accounted for 35.6% of the global economy. China came in second with $14.9 trillion, or 14.1% of global GDP. The two countries’ national debt increased last year by 6% and 8%, respectively.
Japan took third place with its national debt decreasing by 3% to $10.6 trillion in 2023. At the same time, the share of Japanese debt to global GDP decreased to 10.1% from 10.8% year-on-year.
The United Kingdom, France, Italy, India, Germany, Canada, Brazil and Spain were among the countries whose public debt exceeded 1% of the global economy last year. Russia ranked 28th in terms of public debt, as it decreased by 12% in 2023 to $321.3 billion and accounted for 0.3% of the global economy.