As of mid-2025, investors in the United Kingdom hold approximately $809.4 billion in US Treasury securities. The UK is one of the top foreign holders of US debt, with these investments representing, in effect, money lent to the US government. These holdings fluctuate based on market conditions and the investment strategies of British financial institutions.
Including both private and public debt holders, the top three December 2020 national holders of American public debt are Japan ($1.2 trillion or 17.7%), China ($1.1 trillion or 15.2%), and the United Kingdom ($0.4 trillion or 6.2%).
The British government's debt is owned by a wide variety of investors, most notably pension funds. These funds are on deposit, mainly in the form of Treasury bonds at the Bank of England. The pension funds, therefore, have an asset which has to be offset by a liability, or a debt, of the government.
1 United States 21,764,799 2 Euro area 18,075,643 3 United Kingdom 9,837,535 4 France 7,368,685 5 Norway 7,110,029 6 Germany 6,6,91,139 7 Japan 4,687,815 8 Netherlands 4,197,719 9 Luxembourg 3,965,300 10 Italy 2,749,75 https://www.ceicdata. com/en/indicator/norway/external-debt--of-nominal- gdp https://www.gfmag.com/ ...
Most of the UK's debt (gilts) is owned by UK financial institutions like pension funds and insurance companies, followed by significant holdings from the Bank of England (via quantitative easing), and substantial amounts held by overseas investors, with UK entities holding roughly two-thirds of the total debt.
Who does the US Owe its $35 Trillion debt? (National Debt Explained)
Which country in Europe has the highest debt?
France holds the largest consolidated national debt in Europe at around €3.3 trillion in Q1 2025, equivalent to roughly 22% of the total debt across the 28 countries analysed. Greece, despite making steady progress since its 2021 peak debt levels, still carries the highest debt‑to‑GDP ratio in Europe at 152.5%.
There is no independent country that is completely debt-free. Having national debt is considered normal in modern economic systems. The country with the highest national debt is Japan. The United States is not a debt-free country.
While most advanced economies have seen their deficits and debt increase since the pandemic, the UK stands out for running persistent large deficits and a relatively high debt stock in the face of rising interest rates, slowing growth, an ageing population, and rising geopolitical and trade tensions.
It's difficult to pinpoint an exact figure for how much the UK owes China, as the UK doesn't track this specifically, but estimates from around 2018 suggested China held significant UK debt, potentially around 15% of overseas holdings (roughly £267 billion), primarily through Chinese financial institutions buying UK government bonds (gilts). While China is a major holder of UK debt, most of the national debt is held domestically by UK entities like pension funds, and Chinese holdings include commercial banks and institutions rather than just the Chinese state.
Government debt is financed by selling bonds. These can be short maturity (3 months to 30 years and in the case of First World War – unlimited). To pay off debt, the government could run a budget surplus with tax revenues greater than spending. With this surplus, the government would then purchase existing bonds back.
Consequently, China's stake in U.S. debt has more of a binding than a dividing effect on bilateral relations between the two countries. Even if China wished to “call in” its loans, the use of credit as a coercive measure is complicated and often heavily constrained.
As of 2021 (the latest available data), federal debt reached 115 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), ranking 16th highest out of 164 countries for which the IMF has data. Japan tops the ranking with central government debt of 221 percent of GDP, followed by Greece, Sudan, Eritrea, and Singapore.
In 2023, aggregate local government debt had risen to 92 trillion yuan ($12.58 trillion) and the central government of People's Republic of China ordered its banks to roll over debts in a debt-restructuring. China's gross external debt in 2023 was $2.38 trillion.
We have slower income growth, so we have fewer resources with which to pay our debt. Paul Solman: That is fewer tax revenues, which would mean borrowing even more. Plus, lower growth means less demand from businesses to borrow money for investment, which also tends to lower rates.
A sizeable sell-off of Treasury securities by China would almost certainly lead to an appreciation of China's currency and depreciation of the dollar. This is more likely to help the United States than to hurt us, contrary to the claims of many observers.
Who was the last president to balance the US budget?
Today, at a White House event, President Clinton announces that the federal budget, which had run at a deficit for 29 years, has been balanced, and will run a surplus of roughly $70 billion for the fiscal year that ends today. Closing The Book On A Generation Of Deficits.
As of 2024, Germany is most commonly referred to as the "Sick Man of Europe" due to its consistently stagnant economy, and in particular its industrial base, since the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the reduction in imports of inexpensive natural gas from Russia after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The UK, like a number of other developed economies, is facing a difficult fiscal outlook. Public debt, at 101% of GDP and climbing, is historically high outside of major wars. At the same time, the deficit was 5.7% of GDP in 2024—the third-highest among European countries.
Economies with the lowest government debt as a share of GDP 2025. In 2025, Liechtenstein was estimated to have the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the world, at just 0.5 percent, with Brunei having the second-lowest at 2.3 percent.
