Australia vs United States

Australia vs United States: Government debt

Government debt in 2025: 51.9% of GDP in Australia and 124.4% of GDP in United States, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in United States, by 72.5 percentage points, or 2.4 times that in Australia.

Watch it change on the map

% of GDP · IMF

Australia vs United States: Government debtGovernment debt in 2025: 51.9% of GDP in Australia and 124.4% of GDP in United States, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in United States, by 72.5 percentage points, or 2.4 times that in Australia.
AustraliaUnited StatesIMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026)

What the numbers say

  • United States has been higher in every year both have figures for since 2001.
  • In 2025, Australia ranked 79 and United States ranked 6 of 149 countries, counting from the highest.
  • The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts Australia at 54.3% of GDP and United States at 145% of GDP in 2031.

Every year

% of GDP · IMF

YearAustraliaUnited States
202551.9124.4
202450.9122.3
202349.4120
202250119.2
202155.4125
202056.9132.6
201946.5108.8
201841.6107.7
201741106.5
201640.5107.5
201537.6105.5
201433.9105
201330.3105
201227.4103.7
201124100
201020.395.7
200916.687.1
200811.773.9
20079.665
20069.964.6
200510.865.8
200411.966.4
200313.259
20021555.9
200117.153.5
200019.5–
199922.5–
199823.7–
199725.9–
199629.3–
199531.1–
199431.7–
199330.6–
199227.6–
199121.6–
199016.4–
198917–
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
YearAustraliaUnited States
202652.6126.8
202753.2128.7
202853.7132.3
202954.1136.4
203054.3140.7
203154.3145

Each country on its own

Good to know

  • What the government owes, as a share of the economy’s yearly output.
  • Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook, October 2026.
  • The dashed line is the IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026), a scenario rather than a forecast.
  • Ranks count the 149 countries with a value in 2025, highest first.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time

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