A WORLD OF DEBT! $69,000,000,000,000 & forever ever ever ever growing!
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$69 Trillion of World Debt in One Infographic
Two decades ago, total government debt was estimated to sit at $20 trillion.
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.
Which countries owe the most money, and how do these figures compare?
The Regional Breakdown
Let’s start by looking at the continental level, to get an idea of how world debt is divided from a geographical perspective:
Region Debt to GDP Gross Debt (Millions of USD) % of Total World Debt
World 81.8% $69,298 100.0%
Asia and Pacific 79.8% $24,120 34.8%
North America 100.4% $23,710 34.2%
Europe 74.2% $16,225 23.4%
South America 75.0% $2,699 3.9%
Africa 56.9% $1,313 1.9%
Other 37.1% $1,231 1.8%
In absolute terms, over 90% of global debt is concentrated in North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe — meanwhile, regions like Africa, South America, and other account for less than 10%.
This is not surprising, since advanced economies hold most of the world’s debt (about 75.4%), while emerging or developing economies hold the rest.
World Debt by Country
Now let’s look at individual countries, according to data released by the IMF in October 2019.
It’s worth mentioning that the following numbers are representative of 2018 data, and that for a tiny subset of countries (i.e. Syria) we used the latest available numbers as an estimate.
Rank Country Debt to GDP Gross Debt ($B) % of World Total
#1
United States 104.3% $21,465 31.0%
#2
Japan 237.1% $11,788 17.0%
#3
China, People's Republic of 50.6% $6,764 9.8%
#4
Italy 132.2% $2,744 4.0%
#5
France 98.4% $2,736 3.9%
#6
United Kingdom 86.8% $2,455 3.5%
#7
Germany 61.7% $2,438 3.5%
#8
India 68.1% $1,851 2.7%
#9
Brazil 87.9% $1,642 2.4%
#10
Canada 89.9% $1,540 2.2%
#11
Spain 97.1% $1,386 2.0%
#12
Mexico 53.6% $655 0.9%
#13
Korea, Republic of 37.9% $652 0.9%
#14
Australia 41.4% $588 0.8%
#15
Belgium 102.0% $543 0.8%
dataset puts the amount owing to exactly $23,015,089,744,090.63 as of November 12, 2019.
Of course, the U.S. is also the world’s largest economy in nominal terms, putting the debt to GDP ratio at 104.3%
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.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/69-trillion-of-world-debt-in-one-infographic/
Two decades ago, total government debt was estimated to sit at $20 trillion.
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.
Which countries owe the most money, and how do these figures compare?
The Regional Breakdown
Let’s start by looking at the continental level, to get an idea of how world debt is divided from a geographical perspective:
Region Debt to GDP Gross Debt (Millions of USD) % of Total World Debt
World 81.8% $69,298 100.0%
Asia and Pacific 79.8% $24,120 34.8%
North America 100.4% $23,710 34.2%
Europe 74.2% $16,225 23.4%
South America 75.0% $2,699 3.9%
Africa 56.9% $1,313 1.9%
Other 37.1% $1,231 1.8%
In absolute terms, over 90% of global debt is concentrated in North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe — meanwhile, regions like Africa, South America, and other account for less than 10%.
This is not surprising, since advanced economies hold most of the world’s debt (about 75.4%), while emerging or developing economies hold the rest.
World Debt by Country
Now let’s look at individual countries, according to data released by the IMF in October 2019.
It’s worth mentioning that the following numbers are representative of 2018 data, and that for a tiny subset of countries (i.e. Syria) we used the latest available numbers as an estimate.
Rank Country Debt to GDP Gross Debt ($B) % of World Total
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
dataset puts the amount owing to exactly $23,015,089,744,090.63 as of November 12, 2019.
Of course, the U.S. is also the world’s largest economy in nominal terms, putting the debt to GDP ratio at 104.3%
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.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/69-trillion-of-world-debt-in-one-infographic/
China has tons of debt that is off the books and is undisclosed and/or in gov backed enterprises (or wholly owned entities). They are manipulating the yuan exchange rate and creating tons of debt in secret.
Secret bank write-downs.
They are just papering over bad loans to keep growing the economy. They can't be trusted. Everything out of that government is lies and deception. IP theft is real. They are never going to let US tech dominate the red china internet.
The great firewall is a strategic initiative. They know that they have to play dirty to win against the US (global GDP growth) because the US plays dirty too.
The size of the debt is strategic. The G8 are not EVER going to let the weak economies have any real growth (as a share of global GDP). US hegemony will be maintained. Political and strategic allies will be allowed to grow.
Secret bank write-downs.
They are just papering over bad loans to keep growing the economy. They can't be trusted. Everything out of that government is lies and deception. IP theft is real. They are never going to let US tech dominate the red china internet.
The great firewall is a strategic initiative. They know that they have to play dirty to win against the US (global GDP growth) because the US plays dirty too.
The size of the debt is strategic. The G8 are not EVER going to let the weak economies have any real growth (as a share of global GDP). US hegemony will be maintained. Political and strategic allies will be allowed to grow.
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Debt always gets accounted for "by somebody".
Governments have created/spent $Trillions they cannot repay (nor ever intended to).
So... who "accounts for it all"?
Most likely ALL OF US! Super high inflation, currency debasement. IOW... governments are in the process of STEALING EVERYONE'S BUYING POWER!
Prepare accordingly.
Governments have created/spent $Trillions they cannot repay (nor ever intended to).
So... who "accounts for it all"?
Most likely ALL OF US! Super high inflation, currency debasement. IOW... governments are in the process of STEALING EVERYONE'S BUYING POWER!
Prepare accordingly.
There would be defaults on many fronts.
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At some point, the Fed's cache will be all used up and they won't be able to "save" everybody (anybody?) That's likely when the SHTF.
Debt always gets accounted for "by somebody".
Governments have created/spent $Trillions they cannot repay (nor ever intended to).
So... who "accounts for it all"?
Most likely ALL OF US! Super high inflation, currency debasement. IOW... governments are in the process of STEALING EVERYONE'S BUYING POWER!
Prepare accordingly.
They want to avoid having a situation where too many people have nothing to lose.