Public debt: 78.8% of GDP (2017 est.)
81.2% of GDP (2016 est.)
note: data cover only what the United States Treasury denotes as "Debt Held by the Public," which includes all debt instruments issued by the Treasury that are owned by non-US Government entities; the data include Treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data exclude debt issued by individual US states, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of Treasury borrowings from surpluses in the trusts for Federal Social Security, Federal Employees, Hospital and Supplemental Medical Insurance (Medicare), Disability and Unemployment, and several other smaller trusts; if data for intragovernment debt were added, "gross debt" would increase by about one-third of GDP
Definition: This entry records the cumulative total of all government borrowings less repayments that are denominated in a country's home currency. Public debt should not be confused with external debt, which reflects the foreign currency liabilities of both the private and public sector and must be financed out of foreign exchange earnings.
Source: CIA World Factbook - This page was last updated on Saturday, September 18, 2021
See Also- Public debt by year chart
- Public debt rank chart
- Public debt - comparative map
- External debt stocks, public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) (DOD, current US$) - thematic map - World Bank indicator
- External debt stocks, public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) (DOD, current US$) - country comparison - World Bank indicator
Related Data From the International Monetary Fund
Variable: General government gross debt
Note: Gross debt consists of all liabilities that require payment or payments of interest and/or principal by the debtor to the creditor at a date or dates in the future. This includes debt liabilities in the form of SDRs, currency and deposits, debt securities, loans, insurance, pensions and standardized guarantee schemes, and other accounts payable. Thus, all liabilities in the GFSM 2001 system are debt, except for equity and investment fund shares and financial derivatives and employee stock options. Debt can be valued at current market, nominal, or face values (GFSM 2001, paragraph 7.110).
Units: Percent of GDP
Country-specific Note: See notes for: General government gross debt (National currency).
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, April 2019
| Year | General government gross debt | Percent Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 53.146 | |
| 2002 | 55.504 | 4.44% |
| 2003 | 58.586 | 5.55% |
| 2004 | 66.094 | 12.82% |
| 2005 | 65.455 | -0.97% |
| 2006 | 64.186 | -1.94% |
| 2007 | 64.655 | 0.73% |
| 2008 | 73.684 | 13.96% |
| 2009 | 86.705 | 17.67% |
| 2010 | 95.408 | 10.04% |
| 2011 | 99.745 | 4.55% |
| 2012 | 103.223 | 3.49% |
| 2013 | 104.757 | 1.49% |
| 2014 | 104.448 | -0.29% |
| 2015 | 104.687 | 0.23% |
| 2016 | 106.872 | 2.09% |
| 2017 | 106.226 | -0.60% |
| 2018 | 105.773 | -0.43% |
| 2019 | 106.702 | 0.88% |
