United States leads world as nation with most public debt: U.N. report

The United States led the world in 2023 as the country with the highest amount of public debt, according to a United Nations report released on Tuesday. 

Global public debt hit a new record of $97 trillion in 2023.

Developing countries owe approximately one-third of the total amount, according to the report.

The U.S. made up about 34% of global public debt last year.

In the report for 2023, the U.S. national debt total was more than $33 trillion. China was the runner-up with close to $15 trillion in debt for 2023 followed by Japan at about $10.6 trillion.

At the current time, the U.S. total public debt is close to $35 trillion.