
Gross debt in the United States of America
General government debt of United States of America refers to the debts of the state, their states and municipalities, and also of public sector institutions such as social security funds.The government debt in the period from 2000 to 2021 was between 5.45 trillion and 29.88 trillion USD. The highest level of the last years at 29.9 trillion US Dollar was reached in 2021.
Based on the number of inhabitants, this is a debt of 90,020 USD per person. For comparison, the average debt per person in the same year in the European Union was 35,341 USD.
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Gross debt of the last 21 years in billion USD
Default Risk and the USA
Debt at the end of 2022 was exactly $31,419,689,421,557 and 90 cents - more than $32 trillion. This makes the United States the world leader. This is true not only in absolute terms for the entire country, but also per capita.There are regular reports in the international media about an imminent national bankruptcy of the USA. Of course, it is not quite that drastic. It is merely a matter of complying with a self-imposed debt ceiling. Introduced in 1917, it has rarely been adhered to. The ceiling has had to be raised more than 100 times since then in order to make the necessary payments. To be fair, however, the inflation rate must also be taken into account, because this limit is measured in absolute figures and not as a percentage of economic output.
Nevertheless, in 2001, the debt ceiling was $5.6 trillion. Since then, inflation has hit at a painful 57.4%. Adjusted for inflation, the limit would be $8.8 trillion. In fact, it has since been raised to an impressive 31.4 trillion.
A default of the USA would be more drastic for the world economy than that of a small other country. As in the past 100 years, the decision was made to raise it again last time. This does not completely eliminate the danger next time, but the probability of escalation is not particularly high either.
Domestic and foreign debt
Japan is now the largest creditor of the USA. It is followed by China and the United Kingdom. Overall, however, only about 22% of U.S. debt is foreign, and that is unlike most other countries. The lion's share of the debt is owed by the USA to its own institutions and states. At the Federal Reserve alone, more than $6 trillion in debt lay dormant as of March 2023. So a large part of the interest to be paid does not migrate, but stays in the own country. And not only that. Only a very small portion of the interest profits generated by the Federal Reserve Bank goes to its shareholders. By law, most of it flows directly back into the national budget. This, of course, does not make the debt go away. However, by reducing the interest burden, debts are easier to bear and fewer new liabilities are created. Germany, after all the largest economy in Europe, obtains around 60% of its money abroad, where the interest is not only incurred on paper.
Year | United States total | % of GDP | per capita | EU per capita |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | 5,451.11 bn USD | 53.17% | 19,319 USD | 10,328 USD |
2001 | 5,623.84 bn USD | 53.15% | 19,735 USD | 10,404 USD |
2002 | 6,073.85 bn USD | 55.54% | 21,117 USD | 11,368 USD |
2003 | 6,717.34 bn USD | 58.62% | 23,155 USD | 14,148 USD |
2004 | 8,072.07 bn USD | 66.09% | 27,568 USD | 16,162 USD |
2005 | 8,530.81 bn USD | 65.44% | 28,867 USD | 16,918 USD |
2006 | 8,865.16 bn USD | 64.17% | 29,711 USD | 17,549 USD |
2007 | 9,330.48 bn USD | 64.56% | 30,974 USD | 19,574 USD |
2008 | 10,801.31 bn USD | 73.41% | 35,520 USD | 22,721 USD |
2009 | 12,510.36 bn USD | 86.58% | 40,781 USD | 23,701 USD |
2010 | 14,263.96 bn USD | 95.14% | 46,113 USD | 25,145 USD |
2011 | 15,462.33 bn USD | 99.48% | 49,625 USD | 28,417 USD |
2012 | 16,689.03 bn USD | 103.04% | 53,170 USD | 27,784 USD |
2013 | 17,546.31 bn USD | 104.54% | 55,516 USD | 30,021 USD |
2014 | 18,345.88 bn USD | 104.53% | 57,621 USD | 30,832 USD |
2015 | 19,137.46 bn USD | 105.12% | 59,667 USD | 26,170 USD |
2016 | 20,030.66 bn USD | 107.14% | 62,001 USD | 26,655 USD |
2017 | 20,680.98 bn USD | 106.18% | 63,610 USD | 27,535 USD |
2018 | 22,062.66 bn USD | 107.45% | 67,503 USD | 29,172 USD |
2019 | 23,253.44 bn USD | 108.76% | 70,823 USD | 27,927 USD |
2020 | 28,327.61 bn USD | 134.51% | 85,453 USD | 32,227 USD |
2021 | 29,876.97 bn USD | 128.14% | 90,020 USD | 35,341 USD |