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Global Government Debt Hits New Record

January 24, 2019

2018 saw total global government debt hit a new record of $66 trillion, which is nearly 80 percent of global GDP, according to new data from Fitch Ratings. The amount of global debt has nearly doubled since 2007, just prior to the financial collapse. The recovery period saw central banks keeping interest rates low, resulting in an explosion of debt. Central banks are now beginning to normalize monetary policy.

Fitch notes that about $50 trillion of that comes from developed countries. This level has remained fairly steady since 2012, except for in the U.S. American government debt has increased 44 percent, from $15.2 trillion to $21.9 trillion in the years since.

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