US national debt nears $31T: How it compares with other countries

Here are how other major nations stack up

The U.S. government's debt continues its uphill climb and will soon reach $31 trillion for the first time as early as this month.

While several countries worldwide accelerated their spending in response to COVID-19, spending by Congress was already increasing at a speedy clip long before the pandemic sparked a borrowing surge that exacerbated the rate.

government debt

The dome of the U.S. Capitol in Washington (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite / AP Newsroom)

America has the largest national debt in the world at $30.9 trillion. With a population of over 333 million, that means a debt burden of $92,709 per citizen and $245,191 for each taxpayer and equates to a public debt to gross domestic product ratio of 97.53%, according to USdebtclock.org. 

The site also tracks the debt of other nations, so FOX Business decided to lay out some comparisons to show how they stack up.

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Looking at the other nations in the Group of Seven, Japan has the highest public debt to GDP ratio of 288.31% and is second in line to the U.S. in borrowing total with a national debt of $15.231 trillion.

G-7

Leaders meet in Cornwall for the G-7 Summit.  (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky / AP Newsroom)

Italy carries $3.864 trillion in national debt, giving it a borrowing ratio against its GDP of 176.81%, followed by France's 130.64% ratio and debt of $3.675 trillion.

The United Kingdom is carrying a debt load of $3.384 trillion, giving it a ratio of 103.61%. Germany owes just a bit more with $3.4 trillion in debt, but the country's ratio is much lower at 76.46%.

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While Canada owes the least of all the current G7 nations at $1.9 trillion, its public debt to GDP ratio is higher than others at 105.98%.

putin xi

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose during a meeting in Beijing Feb. 4, 2022.  (Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Russia, which was ousted from the G8 (now the G7) over its invasion of Ukraine, has a significantly smaller economy than the remaining members of the alliance but also carries much lower debt at only $297.4 billion with a public debt to GDP ratio of 18.13%.

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China, a major competitor to the U.S. and an ally of Russia, carries roughly a third of the debt load as the U.S. at $10.797 trillion, with a public debt to GDP ratio of 61.94%.