The figure of the week. The stock of public debt reached, at the end of last year, $61,000 billion in OECD countries.
According to the 2026 edition of the “Global Debt Report” recently published by the OECD, the overall stock of debt from states and private sector companies reached a record amount of around $109,000 billion last year. In developed countries, the outstanding public debt, known as sovereign debt, stood at a never-before-seen level of $61,000 billion at the end of 2025, up from $55,000 billion the year before.
By borrowing categories, fixed-rate bonds represent about 76% of the total stock, followed by Treasury bills (around 15%), inflation-linked securities (around 8%), and variable-rate debt (around 2%).
In 2025, the ratio of public sector debt to GDP remained stable in OECD countries at 83%, but is expected to rise to 85% this year, which is 39 percentage points higher than in 2007, before the global financial crisis of the subprime.
The sovereign bond issuances of the United States
Meanwhile, the refinancing needs of sovereign debt reached a record level of about $13,500 billion in OECD countries, up from $12,000 billion in 2024, and are expected to increase by another $1,000 billion in 2026, which is 19% of GDP. The United States and Japan alone represent nearly 80% of the total. “However, while Japan’s share dropped from 16% in 2020 to 7% in 2025, the United States’ share rose from 57% to 70%,” notes the report.
In emerging countries, sovereign bond issuances also reached a record level in 2025, at $3,400 billion, which is 21% higher than in 2024, bringing the total public debt to $12,100 billion, an unprecedented amount.
Finally, borrowings issued on financial markets by private sector companies reached an unprecedented volume of $13,700 billion in 2025, bringing their total debt stock to $59,500 billion, with $36,400 billion in bonds and $23,100 billion in syndicated loans. “Given the magnitude of investment expenses needed to finance AI development, corporate borrowing needs are expected to continue to grow significantly in the future,” notes the OECD report.
