This continues the trend of increasing debt since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Since the beginning of the pandemic, Australian Government gross debt has increased from $534.4 billion in March 2019 to $894.9 billion as of 28 October 2022.
The Budget projects that the Commonwealth government's gross debt will be around $963 billion at 30 June 2022. This is around 45.1% of GDP.
Japan, with its population of 127,185,332, has the highest national debt in the world at 234.18% of its GDP, followed by Greece at 181.78%. Japan's national debt currently sits at ¥1,028 trillion ($9.087 trillion USD).
Global Debt Reaches a Record $226 Trillion.
You might be surprised. According to data published by London-based investment fintech Invezz, Japan, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and the US are the top five countries with the highest level of government debt.
Out of the total debt, the government's share is around 21 percent in 2022 whilst the non-government share is around 79 percent. External debt of the non-financial corporations is the highest among different categories in 2022—at US$ 250.2 billion (Table 1).
One in four Australians, 25.1 per cent, are finding it difficult to get by on their current income, new analysis from The Australian National University (ANU) shows. This is the highest percentage of financial stress among Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic and almost as high as pre-pandemic levels.
In Australia, and in countries around the world, government economic support packages in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have led to large increases in government debt, continuing a trend of increasing government debt since the global financial crisis (GFC).
Australia in top 5 for highest household debt
According to OECD data, the average Australian household has debt of around 210.07% of their net yearly income. ¹ In layman's terms, Australians are spending a lot more than we're earning. But why is that?
The majority (two-thirds) of our government debt is held by non-resident investors. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the United States and the United Kingdom are the biggest investors followed by Belgium, Japan and Hong Kong (SAR of China).
Australian Government debt was progressively reduced after the Second World War and largely eliminated by the beginning of the 1970s.
Current debt
As of January 2023, Public Debt of Pakistan is around PKR 62.46 trillion (USD 274 billion) which is nearly 79 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) of Pakistan.
US dollar denominated debt remained the largest component of India's external debt, with a share of 52.1 per cent at end-March 2021, followed by the Indian rupee (33.3 per cent), yen (5.8 per cent), SDR (4.4 per cent) and the euro (3.5 per cent).
Overall debt held by households was roughly valued at Rs 43.5 trillion, as of March 2021. Government and corporate debt levels have also worsened. As India's national debt hit almost 89.6 per cent of GDP in 2020-21, government debt touched 70 per cent of GDP. Corporate debt levels went up to 47 per cent.
China is facing a full-blown debt crisis with $8 trillion at risk as Xi Jinping eyes an unprecedented 3rd term.