External Debt in the United States increased to 28604291 USD Million in the second quarter of 2025 from 28097015 USD Million in the first quarter of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Net International Investment Position - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Key information about United States External Debt: % of GDP

• United States External Debt accounted for 94.3 % of the country's Nominal GDP in 2024, compared with the ratio of 93.4 % in the previous year.
• US External Debt: % of Nominal GDP data is updated yearly, available from Dec 2003 to Dec 2024.
• The data reached an all-time high of 99.9 % in Dec 2020 and a record low of 60.6 % in Dec 2003.

CEIC calculates External Debt as % of Nominal GDP from quarterly External Debt and annual Nominal GDP. The U.S. Department of the Treasury provides External Debt in USD based on BPM6. The Bureau of Economic Analysis provides Nominal GDP in USD. External Debt prior to 2014 is based on BPM5.


Related information about United States External Debt: % of GDP

• In the latest reports of US, Current Account recorded a deficit of 251.3 USD bn in Jun 2025.
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) increased by 124.6 USD bn in Jun 2025.
• US Direct Investment Abroad fell by 4.3 USD bn in Jun 2025.
• Its Foreign Portfolio Investment increased by 452.5 USD bn in Jun 2025.
• The country's External Debt reached 28,604,291.0 in Jun 2025.
• The country's Nominal GDP was reported at 7,621.4 USD bn in Jun 2025.

Key information about United States External Debt: Short Term

• United States External Debt: Short Term value stood at 9,634.4 USD bn in Jun 2025, compared with 9,498.0 USD bn in the previous quarter.
• US External Debt: Short Term data is updated quarterly, available from Jun 2003 to Jun 2025.
• The data reached an all-time high of 9,634.4 USD bn in Jun 2025 and a record low of 2,718.8 USD bn in Jun 2003.

CEIC calculates quarterly Short Term External Debt as the sum of quarterly Short Term External Debt breakdowns for General Government, Central Bank, Deposit Taking Corporations and Other Sectors. The U.S. Department of the Treasury provides Short Term External Debt in USD based on BPM6. Short Term External Debt prior to Q3 2014 is based on BPM5.


Related information about United States External Debt: Short Term

• In the latest reports of US, Current Account recorded a deficit of 251.3 USD bn in Jun 2025.
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) increased by 124.6 USD bn in Jun 2025.
• US Direct Investment Abroad fell by 4.3 USD bn in Jun 2025.
• Its Foreign Portfolio Investment increased by 452.5 USD bn in Jun 2025.
• The country's Nominal GDP was reported at 7,621.4 USD bn in Jun 2025.

Monthly and long-term United States External Debt (% of GDP) data: historical series and analyst forecasts curated by FocusEconomics.

Key information about United States External Debt: Short Term: % of GDP

• United States External Debt: Short Term accounted for 29.6 % of the country's Nominal GDP in 2023, compared with the ratio of 30.9 % in the previous year.
• US External Debt: Short Term: % of Nominal GDP data is updated yearly, available from 2003 to 2023.
• The data reached an all-time high of 39.4 % in 2007 and a record low of 25.0 % in 2003.

CEIC calculates Short Term External Debt as % of Nominal GDP from quarterly Short Term External Debt and annual Nominal GDP. Short Term External Debt is calculated as the sum of Short Term External Debt breakdowns for General Government, Central Bank, Deposit Taking Corporations and Other Sectors. The U.S. Department of the Treasury provides Short Term External Debt in USD based on BPM6. The Bureau of Economic Analysis provides Nominal GDP in USD. Short Term External Debt prior to 2014 is based on BPM5.


Related information about United States External Debt: Short Term: % of GDP

• In the latest reports of US, Current Account recorded a deficit of 266.8 USD bn in Jun 2024.
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) increased by 93.6 USD bn in Jun 2024.
• US Direct Investment Abroad expanded by 56.2 USD bn in Jun 2024.
• Its Foreign Portfolio Investment increased by 258.7 USD bn in Jun 2024.
• US External Debt: Short Term value stood at 8,342.4 USD bn in Dec 2023.
• The country's Nominal GDP was reported at 6,632.4 USD bn in Mar 2023.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Debt Held by Foreign and International Investors (FDHBFIN) from Q1 1970 to Q2 2025 about foreign, debt, federal, and USA.

In September 2024, the national debt of the United States had risen up to 35.46 trillion U.S. dollars. The national debt per capita had risen to 85,552 U.S. dollars in 2021. As represented by the statistic above, the public debt of the United States has been continuously rising. U.S. public debt Public debt, also known as national and governmental debt, is the debt owed by a nations’ central government. In the case of the U.S., national debt is owed by the federal government to Treasury security holders. Generally speaking, government debt increases with government spending, and can be decreased through taxes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government increased spending significantly to finance virus infrastructure, aid, and various forms of economic relief. International public debt Venezuela leads the global ranking of the 20 countries with the highest public debt in 2021. In relation to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Venezuela's public debt amounted to around 306.95 percent of GDP. Eritrea was ranked fifth, with an estimated debt of 170 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. The national debt of the United Kingdom is forecasted to grow from 87 percent in 2022 to 70 percent in 2027, in relation to the Gross Domestic Product. These figures include England, Wales, Scotland as well as Northern Ireland. Greece had the highest national debt among EU countries as of the 4th quarter of 2020 in relation to the Gross Domestic Product. Germany ranked 13th in the EU, with its national debt amounting to 69 percent of GDP in the same time period. Tuvalu was one of the 20 countries with the lowest national debt in 2021 in relation to the GDP, while Macao had an estimated level of national debt of zero percent, the lowest of any country. The data refer to the debts of the entire state, including the central government, the provinces, municipalities, local authorities and social insurance.

Historical dataset showing U.S. external debt by year from N/A to N/A.

By 2035, the gross federal debt of the United States is projected to be about 59.3 trillion U.S. dollars. This would be an increase of around 24 trillion U.S. dollars from 2024, when the federal debt was around 35 trillion U.S. dollars. The federal debt of the U.S. The federal debt, also called the national debt or public debt, is the amount of debt held by the United States government. This debt may be to other countries, or to different departments within the government itself. The public debt of the United States has increased significantly over the past 30 years, as it was around 3.2 trillion U.S. dollars in 1990 and surpassed 30 trillion dollars for the first time in 2022. When broken down per capita, the national debt amounted to about 80,885 U.S. dollars of debt per person in the United States in 2021. The problem of the federal debt Over the past decade, the federal debt limit in the United States has increased significantly. The U.S. debt ceiling can only be changed by an act of Congress which is then signed by the president. The raising of the ceiling has become a recurring political issue in recent years, especially during times when the Presidency and chambers of Congress are controlled by different parties. The debt ceiling is a tool that allows the Treasury to issue bonds without congressional approval, allowing for efficiency in the way that the government pays for programs and services. It is thought to be further valuable in that it keeps federal finances in check. However, when the two parties are unable to come to an agreement on raising the debt ceiling, the government comes to a shutdown because they can no longer fund themselves. The Republican Party in particular often positions itself against raising the federal debt ceiling, characterizing themselves as the party of fiscal conservativism. However, analyses have shown that both parties have contributed to the country's debt in almost equal measures.

As of December 2024, Japan held United States treasury securities totaling about 1.06 trillion U.S. dollars. Foreign holders of United States treasury debt According to the Federal Reserve and U.S. Department of the Treasury, foreign countries held a total of 8.5 trillion U.S. dollars in U.S. treasury securities as of December 2024. Of the total held by foreign countries, Japan and Mainland China held the greatest portions, with China holding 759 billion U.S. dollars in U.S. securities. The U.S. public debt In 2023, the United States had a total public national debt of 33.2 trillion U.S. dollars, an amount that has been rising steadily, particularly since 2008. In 2023, the total interest expense on debt held by the public of the United States reached 678 billion U.S. dollars, while 197 billion U.S. dollars in interest expense were intra governmental debt holdings. Total outlays of the U.S. government were 6.1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. By 2029, spending is projected to reach 8.3 trillion U.S. dollars.

Government Debt in the United States increased to 38040094 USD Million in October from 37637553 USD Million in September of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Government Debt- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Summarizes the U.S. government's total outstanding debt at the end of each fiscal year from 1789 to the current year.

United States US: Net External Debt: Other Sectors: Long Term data was reported at 0.000 USD mn in Dec 2016. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.000 USD mn for Sep 2016. United States US: Net External Debt: Other Sectors: Long Term data is updated quarterly, averaging 0.000 USD mn from Jun 2015 (Median) to Dec 2016, with 7 observations. United States US: Net External Debt: Other Sectors: Long Term data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: QEDS: Net External Debt.

External Debt in Mexico increased to 633750.90 USD Million in the second quarter of 2025 from 618661.90 USD Million in the first quarter of 2025. This dataset provides - Mexico External Debt - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

This dataset provides values for EXTERNAL DEBT reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Debt: Total Public Debt (GFDEBTN) from Q1 1966 to Q2 2025 about public, debt, federal, government, and USA.

I downloaded this dataset from Wikipedia. I was startled when I came across a video to realise that the United States has the highest external debt among world countries. India and Brazil lie at around 20th positions. United Kingdom's external debt is a staggering 273% of their GDP while India's is 19.20 %. Brazil's external debt is 38% of their GDP. The United States' external debt is 96.40 % of their GDP while Japan has 101 % of its GDP as its external debt.

The dataset contains the country names, their external debt, their per capita external debt, the date of entering the data and the external debt as a percentage of their GDP.

The data can be cleaned and can form an excellent use case for LLM based data analytics. The data must be cleaned. The data can be combined with other financial data of the respective countries to form a complete database of financial metrics.

External Debt in Egypt increased to 161230.10 USD Million in the second quarter of 2025 from 156689.20 USD Million in the first quarter of 2025. This dataset provides - Egypt External Debt - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Total External Debt for United Arab Emirates was 87.37604 % of GDP in January of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Total External Debt for United Arab Emirates reached a record high of 87.48302 in January of 2024 and a record low of 85.85203 in January of 2023. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Total External Debt for United Arab Emirates - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on December of 2025.

United States US: Gross External Debt: Short Term data was reported at 5,562.146 USD bn in Mar 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 5,450.687 USD bn for Dec 2017. United States US: Gross External Debt: Short Term data is updated quarterly, averaging 5,193.975 USD bn from Jun 2003 (Median) to Mar 2018, with 60 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 5,909.842 USD bn in Mar 2008 and a record low of 2,717.397 USD bn in Jun 2003. United States US: Gross External Debt: Short Term data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: QEDS: Gross External Debt: by Sector and Instrument.