Who and How Much Does the United States Owe?

The United States national debt has grown to $36.6 trillion and has been increasing by trillions every year in recent years. Let’s take a look at who Americans owe.

U.S. Treasury bonds are a financial asset that is a cornerstone of the global financial system, as the dollar is the world’s reserve currency. Bonds are widely used by other countries as reserves, including the United Kingdom, and as collateral for borrowing. Bonds are also held as bank capital by U.S. banks.

Who Do the United States of America Owe?

Below are graphs showing who Americans owe to whom. The vast majority of the debtors are domestic, which may somewhat mitigate the long-term impact of the insane debt burden on the US economy. Even so, the national debt level has already risen to more than 120 percent of gross domestic product, which is considered unsustainable.

$36.6 trillion is a sum that many people find hard to imagine. Here are some comparisons.

The United States has a national debt of $323,000 for each taxpayer

Since the average income per person in the United States is about $66,000 per year, that means about five years of work for every salaried employee.

The value of gold mined in the world throughout history is about $20 trillion. The gross domestic product (the total value of all goods and services produced for final consumption during a year) is about $115 trillion.

The Federal Reserve holds more than $5 trillion worth of Treasury bonds, the lion’s share of which was purchased in 2020 at the outbreak of the corona crisis. In essence, the central bank printed money (or entered numbers into a computer) and thereby indirectly financed the increase in government spending.

Countries around the world also hold large amounts of U.S. Treasury bonds as reserves, as the U.S. dollar is the world’s reserve currency and is widely used in international trade.

However, there has been a noticeable trend in recent years where several countries, such as China, have been actively selling bonds. Below are the largest creditors of the United States around the world.

Key Takeaways

The staggering scale of the U.S. national debt, now at $36.6 trillion, underscores a growing challenge not only for the American economy but also for the global financial system.

While the fact that most of this debt is held domestically offers a small cushion, the sheer magnitude – exceeding 120% of GDP – raises serious questions about long-term fiscal sustainability. With major creditors including the Federal Reserve and foreign governments like Japan and China, shifts in global confidence toward U.S. Treasury bonds could have ripple effects worldwide.

As the debt continues to rise year after year, it becomes increasingly important for policymakers and citizens alike to confront the implications of this burden, and to consider what steps might be taken to ensure economic resilience in the decades ahead.