Where is America’s Debt?

Share this infographic on your website , simply copy and paste the source
code in the box below to your website.

Americas collective debt, also called the national debt or the public debt, represents the money that the U.S. government owes to the owners of debt instruments that are issued by the U.S. treasury. There are several types of debt instruments issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. All of these items are collectively called treasuries.

America has always had debt. Since the 18^th century, the country has carried a load of debt that has fluctuated with the political and social climate of the day. In 1860, Americas debt was $65 million. The Civil War brought about a major spike in the debt. World War I and World War II also brought about major rises in the debt. The latest American debt numbers have put it at its steepest numbers since the debt level spiked during World War II.

Americas debt, as owed to foreign nations, has been rising steadily over the years. The gross debt in trillions of U.S. dollars was about $10 trillion in 1940. In 1950, it had risen to about $18 trillion. After falling for a few decades, it began rising again in the late 1980s. In 2009, Americas debt was again up to $18 trillion. It is projected to continue to rise over the next few years. By 2011 it is projected to be about $20 trillion. The projected amount of American debt in the next few years equals 100 percent of the U.S. GDP.

Foreign Held Treasury Securities in U.S. Dollars

China holds $798.9 billion in American debt. Japan holds $746.5 billion in U.S. debt. The U.K. holds $230.7 billion of the U.S. debt. Brazil holds $156.2 billion in U.S. debt. Hong Kong has $142.0 billion of the American debt. Russia has $122.5 billion of American debt. Luxemburg holds $90.8 billion of the American debt. Taiwan has $78.7 billion of Americas debt. Switzerland owns $71.5 billion of Americas debt. Germany holds $52.8 billion in American debt.

South Korea has $42.2 billion of the U.S. debt. Canada has $40.8 billion in American debt. Ireland has $38.3 billion in U.S. debt. France has $36.2 billion in U.S. debt. Singapore has $35.2 billion of the U.S. debt. India owns $32.9 billion of the American debt. Turkey owns $30.4 billion of the U.S. debt. Thailand holds $30.1 billion in U.S. debt. Norway holds $24.9 billion in American debt. Mexico holds $20.7 billion of U.S. debt.

Posted by: michaelbnash Tags: debt, global finance, maps, US, US economy

related visualeconomic articles

Finding the Bottom: 2010 Global Economic Recovery

The State of ‘Green’ Business in America

A Decade of Unemployment

The Rise of Consumer Debt

Export Value: Per Dollar GDP by Country

The State of the 40-Hour Workweek

http://www.offtopicz.com/56994-where-america-s-debt.html#post1446811 Anonymous

[...] [...]
http://stocktwits.net/marketnut/2010/01/12/morning-quickie-2/ MORNING QUICKIE Market Nut

[...] Where is America’s Debt?- Cool Infograph (Visual Economics) [...]
http://www.withgoodwill.com Alex

I have to say that this is alarming
chris

germany is the 2nd largest exporter in the world, not far behind china… how can the US owe more to luxemberg than to germany?
and mexico etc…

where are these figures drawn from?
Gibran

What about Saudi Arabia? I don’t know their exact figures but I think they invest quite heavily in the US.
http://gimps.de/pictures/274-Blonde-Hairstyles-for-Short-Hair-Cuts Miss Funky Cuts

This is horrible for business.
You should have realized by now that the dollar is somewhat insecure to keep for savings.
http://www.viewsflow.com/w/omZ Where is Americas debt? – Viewsflow

[...] Useful visual. China, Japan, UK, Brazil, and so on.Close [...]
TheBaron

Geez, doesn’t anyone owe us money?
http://freesoc.wordpress.com sconzey

Wait; is this treasury securities held by private individuals of that nationality, held by companies formally resident in that country, or held by the central banks of that country?
Jeff

You owe Mexico money??? How does ‘the richest nation on earth’ owe money to Mexico?
steve

What about non-foreign-held debt?
http://www.extremelywrong.com Jason

Are you kidding me??? We are in debt to Mexico???

Also, anyone else disgusted by the fact that we are PLANNING to have the debt raise to nearly 20 trillion in 2014?

We should PLAN to ahve the debt go down.
Ming

o.O did;t know USA own Singapore 35.2 Billions o.o
Friend

Hey you forget the US (via Medicare and SS trust funds) as the actual largest holder! We’re actually slowly tying a noose around our own necks!
http://www.minorityfortune.com Minority Fortune

Not too surprising of a list there. However, was surprised to find that there wasn’t a Gulf country holding enough debt to make the list.
caleb

yaa but sooo many countries owe us so much not only for saving there ass’ but for other industrial debt we have ignored when they were in hard times.
John

$2,822,300,000,000.00

I hope they got a good interest rate…
Doron

It would be interesting to see the same graphic, but with the various countries’ average savings rate.
http://monstermike.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/where-is-americas-debt-pic/ Where Is America’s Debt? (PIC) « Monstermike's Blog

[...] Source:http://www.visualeconomics.com/where-is-americas-debt/ [...]
Mark Simpon

So, okay – looks like China holds about a trillion, Japan about a trillion, and everyone else about a trillion. Comes to 3.5 trillion total if you look it up. Does that mean that the remaining 9 trillion is held by U.S. Banks?
http://www.starlarvae.org Heresiarch

Screw Treasury securities! The government should not BORROW money (from the private banks); it should ORIGINATE money.

No borrowing, no debt. It’s that easy.

END THE FED !!!
KHC

hong kong is part of china!
http://filesmixx.com alexx

AWesome!!! Thanks dude
stinky

Just curious, how much debt does the US hold from other countries?
http://magichelmet.typepad.com/surplus jhe

Shouldn’t the US be on the chart?
James Kirk

It’s only money..
http://www.financeblog.ch/2010/01/14/welchem-land-schulden-die-usa-wieviel/ Welchem Land schulden die USA wieviel?

[...] Visual Economics Diesen Artikel empfehlen oder [...]
http://dieboersenblogger.de/6838/2010/01/amerikas-schulden-in-der-welt/ Amerikas Schulden in der Welt | Die Börsenblogger

[...] tolle Grafik zu den Schulden der USA in der Welt aufmerksam geworden. Erstellt wurde die Grafik von visualeconomics.com. Deutschland ist übrigens auch dabei, auf Rang [...]
armazam

the turkish map over there is wrong . u forgot to draw the part of country that is in europe
http://www.skinnynews.net/earthquake-debt-100-million-to-haiti-and-30-billion-to-israel/ Earthquake Debt: 100 Million to Haiti and 30 Billion To Israel? | Skinny News

[...] Where is America’s debt?HERE.. [...]
http://www.loandiary.org/?p=238 America’s Debt in All Her Visual Glory | Tips for Easy and Best Loans

[...] here for the real beauty from our friends at VisualEconomics. Mortgage Insider dishes it straight on housing and the mortgage [...]
http://www.loandiary.info/?p=237 America’s Debt in All Her Visual Glory | Easy Loans for You

[...] here for the real beauty from our friends at VisualEconomics. Mortgage Insider dishes it straight on housing and the mortgage [...]
http://www.loan-quote.info/loan/americas-debt-in-all-her-visual-glory/ America’s Debt in All Her Visual Glory « Loan Quote

[...] here for the real beauty from our friends at VisualEconomics. Mortgage Insider dishes it straight on housing and the mortgage [...]
http://lowinterestrateloansblog.com/americas-debt-in-all-her-visual-glory/ America’s Debt in All Her Visual Glory | Low interest rate loan blog

[...] here for a genuine beauty from a friends during VisualEconomics. Mortgage Insider meals it true upon housing as well as a debt [...]
Mike C.

If you are going to give a figure for debt as a % of GDP, it would be nice if you started at the beginning of the chart.

Pretty sure a debt of ~20 trillion in 1950 = significantly more than 100% of GDP.
http://myloansrefinance.com/americas-debt-in-all-her-visual-glory/ America’s Debt in All Her Visual Glory | My loans refinance

[...] here for a genuine beauty from a friends during VisualEconomics. Mortgage Insider meals it true upon housing as well as a debt market. Share [...]
http://equityloanratesonline.com/americas-debt-in-all-her-visual-glory-14/ America’s Debt in All Her Visual Glory | Equity loans online

[...] here for a genuine beauty from a friends during VisualEconomics. Mortgage Insider meals it true upon housing as well as a debt market. Share [...]
http://eloansweblog.com/americas-debt-in-all-her-visual-glory-11/ America’s Debt in All Her Visual Glory | E-loans blog

[...] here for a genuine beauty from a friends during VisualEconomics. Mortgage Insider meals it true upon housing as well as a debt market. Share [...]
Matt

China holds about 5.7% of the $14 trillion USA debt. No big deal. All these countries hold about $2.1 trillion, a little more than 10%. Again, no big deal.
http://crisismaven.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/bloom-of-doom-v-we-have-control-of-the-ship-we-have-a-plan/ Bloom of Doom V: “We have control of the ship, we have a plan” « CrisisMaven's Blog

[...] United States of America (airship – “the sky’s the limit”, iceberg ahead, already ordered it to change course): There are (at least!) “20 Reasons Why The U.S. Economy Is Dying And Is Simply Not Going To Recover” (we’re not using the same numbering system here): [...]
Siroy

Just look at this and you will understand all

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms
http://thwap.net/2010/20100211-quick-links-and-impressions/ Quick Links And Impressions « thwap!

[...] Nice infographic detailing how much US debt countries hold: VisualEconomics [...]