Singapore, US With Highest Public Debt per Capita, China Most Indebted in BRICS: Study

Singapore, the United States and Japan top the global chart in terms of sovereign debt per capita, according to research based on U.N. data. The burden of government debt for every American is 10 times heavier than that for a Chinese citizen, according to the study.

U.S. Ranks Second in the World by Debt per Citizen, China in Top 50

People in Singapore owed more than any other nation in 2022 as far as sovereign debt per capita is concerned, according to an analysis of data compiled by the United Nations. The share of each citizen of the city-state amounted to $117,400, according to the research conducted by the Russian RIA Novosti news agency.

The U.S. is second with $93,000 for each American. In June, the country’s debt surpassed the $32-trillion mark for the first time. That happened after President Joe Biden’s administration and House Republicans struck a deal to raise the debt ceiling at the end of May.

The United States is followed by Japan with $88,400. Canada comes in fourth place with $58,900 and Belgium ranks fifth with $52,600. Iceland ($51,200), Italy ($49,200), France ($47,100), Ireland ($47,100), and the U.K. ($46,600) are also in the top 10.

A number of other developed nations are in the top 30, including Norway (with $42,100), Australia ($36,500), and Switzerland ($36,200) as well as the European Union’s economic power house, Germany, with $32,600.

The U.N. numbers ranked Russia 94th last year, with $2,980 of state debt per capita. At the same time, according to the Russian Ministry of Finance (Minfin) and the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), Russia’s debt per capita was around $2,200, the report notes.

Among the members of the BRICS bloc of developing economies (Brazil, Russia, China, India, and South Africa), the People’s Republic of China had the highest public debt per capita — $9,900, ranking 47th in the world. Brazil takes 57th place with $7,700. South Africa, where the public debt per capita was $4,700, was 75th, and India was 112th in 2022, with $2,000.

Members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) fared relatively well by the studied indicator. Armenia, where each citizen accounted for $3,200 of public debt last year, was 90th, Belarus took 91st place with $3,100, Kazakhstan ranked 99th with $2,700, and Kyrgyzstan was 139th with a per capita sovereign debt of $871.

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