How Much Is the United States Debt to China

US debt: who owns it and how big is it? Photograph: Corbis

US federal debt is still a record high. This week it passed a milestone: the fourth straight year the deficit has passed the $1tn mark. As of today, the national debt stands at $16,066,241,407,385.80 (just over $16 trillion).

It's an issue that's sure to come up in the first presidential debate this Wednesday.

So, how does the US borrow money? Treasury bonds are how the US - and all governments for that matter - borrow hard cash: they issue government securities, which other countries and institutions buy. So, the US national debt is owned mostly in the US - but the $5.4tn foreign-owned debt is owned predominantly by Asian economies.

Under President Obama's first term, that figure has gone up from $3tn, a rise of 74.1%. Under George W Bush, it went up too - by 85% over the whole two terms - and 64% in his second term alone.

Holders of US Treasury bonds, $bn

The US Treasury releases the figures on this every quarter - we have made them more useable. So, who has the most?

Graphic by Craig Bloodworth at the Information Lab

The key findings are:
• As of July this year, US Treasury bonds owned overseas accounted for $5.4tn of the national debt - up 14.6% on last year. That's not everything - the US now owes over $16tn.
• China is the biggest owner of US Treasury bonds - over $1.14tn. But it's down 12.6% on last year, backing up reports that China is selling off its US treasury bonds
• Bonds bought in the UK (mainly private investors and pension funds) make it the eighth country on the list at $140.9bn - up 13.5% on January 2009 when Obama took over

It reflects a US national debt which has grown starkly, from $7.8tn in 2005 to busting through the US debt ceiling of $14.294tn last year - according to these day by day figures.

Roll over the line to get numbers, change the date range. Fullscreen version

Bad as that number is, using the bald total figure is not as representative as using a measure which compares the debt to the size of the economy. That is, debt as a percentage of gross domestic product - GDP. And, looking at that figure up to the end of 2010 (using OECD data), Britain is actually worse off than the US.

Roll over the line to get numbers

The full data is below. What can you do with it?

Data summary

MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES (in billions of dollars), HOLDINGS AT END OF PERIOD

$bn. Click heading to sort table. Download this data

Country	July 2012.	July 2011.	Jan 2009.	% change, Jan 2009 to July 2012	% change Jul 2011 to Jul 2012
SOURCE: US TREASURY NOTES 1) Estimated foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury marketable and non-marketable bills, bonds, and notes reported under the Treasury International Capital (TIC) reporting system are based on annual Surveys of Foreign Holdings of U.S. Securities and on monthly data. 2) United Kingdom includes Channel Islands and Isle of Man. 3) Oil exporters include Ecuador, Venezuela, Indonesia, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Gabon, Libya, and Nigeria. 4) Caribbean Banking Centers include Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Netherlands Antilles and Panama. Beginning with new series for June 2006, also includes British Virgin Islands.
Grand Total	5348.5	4668.3	3071.7	74.1	14.57
China, Mainland	1149.6	1314.9	739.6	55.4	-12.57
Japan	1117.1	885.2	634.8	76.0	26.2
Oil Exporters	262.3	244	186.6	40.6	7.5
Brazil	253	219.1	133.5	89.5	15.47
Carib Bnkng Ctrs	246.2	177.9	177.1	39.0	38.39
All Other	224.1	193.9	147	52.4	15.58
Taiwan	196.1	147.6	73.3	167.5	32.86
Switzerland	190.1	118.5	62.1	206.1	60.42
Russia	154.3	141.7	119.6	29.0	8.89
Belgium	144.2	86.6	15.6	824.4	66.51
United Kingdom	140.9	141	124.1	13.5	-0.07
Hong Kong	136.7	105.9	71.7	90.7	29.08
Luxembourg	128.3	114.1	87	47.5	12.45
Singapore	92.7	65.7	38.5	140.8	41.1
Ireland	88.2	52.2	50	76.4	68.97
Norway	69.9	23.7	21.9	219.2	194.94
France	64.8	45.6	17.9	262.0	42.11
Germany	62.8	63	56.2	11.7	-0.32
Canada	55.6	46.8	8.4	561.9	18.8
India	53.9	40.3	32.5	65.8	33.75
Mexico	53.5	31.1	34.8	53.7	72.03
Thailand	53	58.4	37.2	42.5	-9.25
Korea, South	44.3	33.4	31.3	41.5	32.63
Philippines	36.7	30	11.6	216.4	22.33
Turkey	30	42.8	30.8	-2.6	-29.91
Chile	29.7	19.6	15.2	95.4	51.53
Poland	29.4	31.9	3.3	790.9	-7.84
Sweden	28.2	28.4	12.4	127.4	-0.7
Colombia	28	18.8	11.5	143.5	48.94
Italy	27.8	21.3	15.6	78.2	30.52
Israel	25.5	20.9	16.9	50.9	22.01
Australia	25	20.4	7.8	220.5	22.55
Netherlands	24.6	23.6	16.8	46.4	4.24
Spain	24	14.4	4.2	471.4	66.67
Malaysia	20	15.3	8	150.0	30.72
Denmark	14.6	10.8			35.19
Peru	11.8	9.6			22.92
South Africa	11.5	10.1			13.86
Egypt			16.9

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How Much Is the United States Debt to China

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/jul/15/us-debt-how-big-who-owns

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