The United States has exceeded the $40 trillion mark of public debt: ranking of the world's largest debtor countries

U.S. government debt has exceeded $40 trillion for the first time, cementing the United States’ position as the world’s largest government debtor in absolute terms.

According to the U.S. Treasury, on August 18, 2026, total federal debt reached $40.047 trillion. Only five months earlier, it had crossed the $39 trillion mark. Of this, about $32.27 trillion is debt held by investors, the Federal Reserve, and other holders, and another approximately $7.78 trillion is intragovernmental obligations.

To compare all countries correctly, Experts Club used not the national definitions of debt, which differ substantially, but the unified database of the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook for April 2026.

Ranking methodology

The indicator used as the basis is General government gross debt — the gross debt of the general government sector.

The absolute amount is calculated using the formula:

the country’s GDP in current U.S. dollars × government debt as a % of GDP / 100.

Thus, the ranking takes into account not only the debt of the central government but the entire general government sector in accordance with the IMF methodology.

This is fundamentally important for comparing the United States, China, Japan, EU countries, and developing states.

For the United States, the comparable IMF estimate for the whole of 2026 is about $40.73 trillion, or 125.8% of GDP. It slightly exceeds the $40.047 trillion actually recorded by the U.S. Treasury on August 18, because these are different indicators: the former is an IMF estimate for 2026 under the general government methodology, the latter is the daily figure for U.S. federal debt.

The last full-fledged global database that makes such a comparison possible for practically all states remains WEO April 2026. The July update of the WEO is not a new complete country-level fiscal database.

The United States and China account for more than half of the world’s government debt

According to Experts Club calculations, among the 180 countries for which comparable data for 2026 are available, total government debt amounts to about $119.4 trillion.

The United States accounts for roughly a third of this amount.

China is in second place with about $22.29 trillion, or 106.9% of GDP. Together, the United States and China account for about 53% of the debt of all countries included in the calculation.

Japan is in third place with about $8.95 trillion. At the same time, Japan, among the largest economies, has one of the highest debt-to-economy ratios — more than 204% of GDP.

The top ten also includes the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, India, Canada, and Brazil.

The ten largest debtors account for about 81% of the total government debt calculated for countries with available data.

Ranking of the world’s countries by absolute government debt in 2026

Rank	Country	Government debt	Debt-to-GDP
1	United States	$40.73 trillion	125,8%
2	China	$22.29 trillion	106,9%
3	Japan	$8.95 trillion	204,4%
4	United Kingdom	$4.42 trillion	103,6%
5	France	$4.26 trillion	118,4%
6	Italy	$3.79 trillion	138,4%
7	Germany	$3.52 trillion	64,6%
8	India	$3.46 trillion	83,4%
9	Canada	$2.78 trillion	110,7%
10	Brazil	$2.54 trillion	96,5%
11	Spain	$2.05 trillion	98,2%
12	Mexico	$1.33 trillion	62,7%
13	Singapore	$1.13 trillion	171,9%
14	Australia	$1.08 trillion	50,6%
15	South Korea	$1.05 trillion	54,4%
16	Belgium	$848.2 billion	109,2%
17	Poland	$745.5 billion	65,7%
18	Netherlands	$639.9 billion	44,1%
19	Indonesia	$638.7 billion	41,5%
20	Austria	$511.8 billion	82,0%
21	Russia	$507.2 billion	19,1%
22	Israel	$502.7 billion	69,8%
23	Argentina	$484.7 billion	70,4%
24	Saudi Arabia	$445.3 billion	32,1%
25	Switzerland	$441.6 billion	38,5%
26	Greece	$421.1 billion	136,9%
27	Turkey	$418.9 billion	25,5%
28	Thailand	$387.4 billion	66,8%
29	South Africa	$378.8 billion	78,9%
30	Egypt	$373.8 billion	87,0%
31	Malaysia	$358.8 billion	69,5%
32	Colombia	$328.4 billion	60,9%
33	Portugal	$325.7 billion	85,6%
34	Finland	$314.4 billion	93,1%
35	Philippines	$308.6 billion	60,2%
36	Romania	$297.8 billion	61,9%
37	Sweden	$279.3 billion	36,7%
38	Ukraine	$276.2 billion	122,6%
39	Taiwan*	$269.2 billion	27,6%
40	Norway	$257.3 billion	42,9%
41	Ireland	$246.5 billion	31,6%
42	Bangladesh	$213.5 billion	41,8%
43	Hungary	$211.1 billion	77,9%
44	Czechia	$200.8 billion	46,4%
45	United Arab Emirates	$194.9 billion	31,4%
46	Algeria	$187.6 billion	59,2%
47	Chile	$173.2 billion	42,5%
48	Iraq	$163.4 billion	61,7%
49	New Zealand	$158.0 billion	56,7%
50	Vietnam	$157.1 billion	29,8%
51	Denmark	$137.9 billion	27,4%
52	Morocco	$127.8 billion	65,8%
53	Nigeria	$122.0 billion	32,3%
54	Peru	$114.2 billion	30,0%
55	Iran	$111.9 billion	37,3%
56	Slovakia	$106.3 billion	63,0%
57	Kenya	$105.4 billion	71,6%
58	Qatar	$94.20 billion	43,3%
59	Kazakhstan	$89.87 billion	24,9%
60	Bolivia	$82.92 billion	102,7%
61	Dominican Republic	$79.34 billion	58,3%
62	Angola	$78.58 billion	51,6%
63	Sudan	$75.56 billion	169,1%
64	Bahrain	$74.43 billion	152,4%
65	Costa Rica	$67.17 billion	61,1%
66	Croatia	$65.85 billion	56,5%
67	Uruguay	$64.18 billion	66,8%
68	Ghana	$62.71 billion	53,0%
69	Côte d’Ivoire	$61.74 billion	55,1%
70	Slovenia	$56.51 billion	65,2%
71	Panama	$54.87 billion	57,7%
72	Senegal	$53.54 billion	132,3%
73	Jordan	$53.08 billion	81,8%
74	Tunisia	$51.56 billion	84,9%
75	Uzbekistan	$49.88 billion	27,5%
76	Ethiopia	$49.15 billion	40,4%
77	Lithuania	$47.79 billion	45,1%
78	Serbia	$47.77 billion	42,6%
79	Tanzania	$46.22 billion	48,7%
80	Myanmar	$43.51 billion	51,9%
81	Bulgaria	$41.79 billion	28,2%
82	Uganda	$40.33 billion	55,0%
83	Kuwait	$38.55 billion	22,3%
84	Oman	$38.30 billion	32,7%
85	Guatemala	$35.63 billion	27,6%
86	Belarus	$33.75 billion	33,1%
87	El Salvador	$33.68 billion	84,5%
88	Luxembourg	$30.96 billion	28,0%
89	DR Congo	$30.37 billion	24,6%
90	Cameroon	$25.60 billion	39,3%
91	Latvia	$25.47 billion	47,4%
92	Mozambique	$24.69 billion	106,1%
93	Zimbabwe	$24.01 billion	42,3%
94	Iceland	$23.47 billion	53,6%
95	Cyprus	$22.98 billion	50,9%
96	Paraguay	$22.86 billion	37,8%
97	Nepal	$22.74 billion	49,6%
98	Trinidad and Tobago	$22.58 billion	84,1%
99	Gabon	$20.11 billion	86,1%
100	Honduras	$18.18 billion	43,8%
101	Albania	$17.18 billion	51,5%
102	Papua New Guinea	$16.94 billion	49,2%
103	Armenia	$16.13 billion	50,6%
104	Benin	$15.90 billion	57,2%
105	Burkina Faso	$15.88 billion	48,8%
106	Azerbaijan	$15.71 billion	20,0%
107	Republic of the Congo	$15.54 billion	91,3%
108	Jamaica	$15.15 billion	65,8%
109	Georgia	$15.00 billion	35,1%
110	Mauritius	$14.80 billion	86,5%
111	Malta	$14.53 billion	47,3%
112	Estonia	$14.37 billion	27,8%
113	Cambodia	$14.19 billion	27,1%
114	Laos	$14.15 billion	74,6%
115	Mali	$13.81 billion	40,8%
116	Malawi	$13.52 billion	74,5%
117	Guinea	$13.38 billion	44,7%
118	Mongolia	$12.42 billion	43,7%
119	The Bahamas	$12.25 billion	71,9%
120	Namibia	$12.20 billion	70,5%
121	Rwanda	$11.57 billion	66,8%
122	North Macedonia	$11.47 billion	53,1%
123	Bosnia and Herzegovina	$11.31 billion	30,8%
124	Niger	$11.28 billion	45,5%
125	Maldives	$10.52 billion	129,4%
126	Madagascar	$10.44 billion	49,3%
127	Botswana	$10.31 billion	47,0%
128	Guyana	$9.908 billion	29,2%
129	Kyrgyzstan	$8.825 billion	37,4%
130	Togo	$8.692 billion	64,7%
131	Moldova	$8.612 billion	39,3%
132	Nicaragua	$8.042 billion	33,2%
133	Chad	$7.675 billion	29,9%
134	Barbados	$7.594 billion	89,5%
135	Montenegro	$6.386 billion	62,4%
136	Equatorial Guinea	$5.371 billion	39,1%
137	Mauritania	$5.321 billion	37,1%
138	Fiji	$5.242 billion	82,5%
139	Suriname	$5.145 billion	87,1%
140	Bhutan	$4.638 billion	120,3%
141	Tajikistan	$4.467 billion	21,9%
142	Haiti	$4.179 billion	10,7%
143	Sierra Leone	$3.665 billion	44,3%
144	South Sudan	$3.478 billion	57,3%
145	Cape Verde	$3.307 billion	95,9%
146	Turkmenistan	$3.063 billion	3,7%
147	Liberia	$3.035 billion	53,8%
148	Burundi	$3.010 billion	37,0%
149	Eswatini	$2.896 billion	50,0%
150	Kosovo*	$2.632 billion	18,7%
151	Central African Republic	$2.234 billion	64,0%
152	Guinea-Bissau	$2.197 billion	73,6%
153	Belize	$2.180 billion	63,2%
154	Saint Lucia	$2.142 billion	77,5%
155	The Gambia	$1.906 billion	68,3%
156	San Marino	$1.870 billion	77,3%
157	Antigua and Barbuda	$1.586 billion	66,5%
158	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	$1.484 billion	120,1%
159	Lesotho	$1.457 billion	49,0%
160	Djibouti	$1.399 billion	29,6%
161	Andorra	$1.368 billion	28,0%
162	Seychelles	$1.237 billion	55,0%
163	Grenada	$1.023 billion	69,0%
164	Dominica	$777.5 million	98,3%
165	Saint Kitts and Nevis	$731.7 million	64,0%
166	Vanuatu	$603.6 million	43,2%
167	Comoros	$587.4 million	32,4%
168	São Tomé and Príncipe	$585.6 million	50,4%
169	Solomon Islands	$548.7 million	29,9%
170	Timor-Leste	$324.2 million	14,9%
171	Brunei	$249.9 million	1,5%
172	Tonga	$246.4 million	34,4%
173	Samoa	$235.9 million	17,1%
174	Palau	$213.7 million	56,7%
175	Marshall Islands	$57.3 million	16,7%
176	Liechtenstein	$49.5 million	0,5%
177	Micronesia	$39.0 million	7,5%
178	Kiribati	$31.1 million	7,7%
179	Nauru	$24.8 million	12,7%
180	Tuvalu	$2.1 million	3,2%

*Taiwan and Kosovo are shown separately in line with the statistical coverage of the WEO.

For 17 countries there is no comparable estimate for 2026

Older figures for 2024 or 2025 were deliberately not substituted into the ranking, as this would have violated the methodology.

At the time the study was prepared, the IMF does not provide both GDP in dollars and an estimate of general government gross debt for 2026 for Afghanistan, Ecuador, Eritrea, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Palestine, Yemen and Zambia.

In addition, the full WEO database contains no comparable indicators for Cuba, the DPRK, Monaco and the Vatican.

Therefore, all these states are included in the global scope of the study, but they are not given an artificial place in the ranking until comparable statistics become available.

Ukraine ranks 38th

Ukraine, according to the comparable IMF estimate, has public debt of about $276 billion, or 122.6% of projected 2026 GDP, which corresponds to 38th place in the world by absolute amount.

It is important to understand that this figure is higher than the frequently published indicator of Ukraine's direct and state-guaranteed public debt. The reason is the broader methodology of the general government sector and the IMF's forecast estimate for the whole of 2026.

In terms of debt relative to the size of the economy, Ukraine is well above most countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

For comparison, Poland has about $746 billion of debt, but its ratio to GDP is about 65.7%; Romania, $298 billion and 61.9%; Hungary, $211 billion and 77.9%; Serbia, about $47.8 billion and 42.6%.

Russia ranks 21st by absolute debt

Russia, with an estimated gross public debt of about $507 billion, or 19.1% of GDP, ranks 21st.

This is a low level of public debt relative to GDP among the world's economies. However, a low debt burden is not in itself a full assessment of the state of public finances. It does not take into account the cost of borrowing, access to international capital markets, sanctions restrictions, the liquidity of sovereign funds and other factors.

Absolute debt and debt burden are different rankings

A ranking by the amount of debt cannot be interpreted as a ranking of financial vulnerability.

Germany has more than $3.5 trillion of public debt, but its ratio to GDP is about 65%. Japan has almost $9 trillion of debt and more than 204% of GDP.

Singapore, with gross public debt of more than $1.1 trillion, at the same time has very large government financial assets, so gross debt does not reflect its net financial position.

Therefore, Experts Club recommends assessing public debt by at least three parameters: the absolute amount of debt, debt to GDP and the cost of servicing it.

By absolute amount, the US and China dominate today. By ratio to GDP the leaders are quite different, and by the cost of servicing the structure of the ranking changes even more.

Main source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, April 2026. Experts Club's calculations are based on the indicators GDP, current prices, billions of U.S. dollars and General government gross debt, percent of GDP. For the actual current debt of the US, the daily data of the U.S. Department of the Treasury as of August 18, 2026 were used.

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