by HANNA DUGGAL & MARIUM ALI
The US has the highest national debt in the world, a quarter of which is owned by other countries.
On Sunday, a key congressional committee in the United States approved President Donald Trump’s new tax cut bill, which could pass in the House of Representatives later this week.
The bill extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and may add up to $5 trillion to the national debt, deepening worries after a recent US credit ratings downgrade by Moody’s on Friday, which cited concerns about the nation’s growing $36 trillion debt.
The US has the highest amount of national debt in the world and is facing growing concerns about its long-term fiscal stability.
What is US debt?
Debt is simply the total amount of money the US government owes to its lenders, currently amounting to $36.2 trillion. This represents 122 percent of the country’s annual economic output or gross domestic product (GDP), and it is growing by about $1 trillion every three months.
The highest debt-to-GDP ratio was during the pandemic in 2020, when the ratio hit 133 percent. The US is among the top 10 countries in the world with the highest debt-to-GDP ratio.
US national debt increases by $1 trillion every three months
The United States has the highest amount of national debt in the world, owing some $36 trillion or 122 percent of its annual economic output.
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