Global debt grew by “only” $3.3 trillion last year, raising the total to more than $243 trillion, according to a report released this week by the Institute of International Finance.
Total U.S. debt, including corporate debt, households and the government, grew by $2.9 trillion, the largest annual growth since 2007. Increased government borrowing represented more than 40 percent of the rise. Total U.S. debt reached more than $68 trillion. “However, borrowing has still risen at a slower pace than overall economic growth, pushing total debt-to-GDP ratio (326%) to its lowest level since 2005,” the report says.
It adds that “while general government debt/GDP has been stable near 100% since 2015, it is over 30 percentage points above its pre-crisis peak and is set to rise sharply given projections of higher federal budget deficits and slowing economic activity.”
