<p>The author of the FT article is talking about total debt.</p>
<p>For Q3 2021, US federal government debt alone was 122% of GDP. Source: <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEGDQ188S" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEGDQ188S</a></p>
<p>For Q2 2021, US household debt was 78% of GDP. Source: <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/HDTGPDUSQ163N" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/HDTGPDUSQ163N</a></p>
<p>To get total debt you would also need to add the debt of corporations and state and local governments. The total being over 300% seems very likely.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-06T10:45:36.160Z
Thanks a lot James. Appreciate it.
nsivakr
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2022-01-05T21:54:21.780Z
2022-01-05T21:54:21.780Z
James Wattam
<p>I was reading an article in FT, where debt to GDP is quoted as 300% for US and Japan. However, all the official sites for US quotes the debt to GDP as 85% for US.</p>
<p>This article is from a reputed investment banker in Wall Street. Can someone explain?
Link:</p>
<p><a href="https://on.ft.com/31p32aL" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Economic Trends 2022</a></p>
<p>From the article:
<strong>Twenty-five countries including the US and China have total debt above 300 per cent of GDP,</strong></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-05T01:24:09.380Z
Total debt, not government debt. There is no source, so hard to say what is used exactly. It's above 300, not at 300. https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/united-states/total-debt--of-gdp for instance
AKdemy
<gdp><government-debt><debt>
When debt to GDP is only around 85%, how can this article quote as 300%?
nsivakr
# When debt to GDP is only around 85%, how can this article quote as 300%?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-01-04)

I was reading an article in FT, where debt to GDP is quoted as 300% for US and Japan. However, all the official sites for US quotes the debt to GDP as 85% for US.

This article is from a reputed investment banker in Wall Street. Can someone explain?
Link:

[Economic Trends 2022](https://on.ft.com/31p32aL)

From the article:
**Twenty-five countries including the US and China have total debt above 300 per cent of GDP,**

**Tags:** gdp, government-debt, debt

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Total debt, not government debt. There is no source, so hard to say what is used exactly. It's above 300, not at 300. https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/united-states/total-debt--of-gdp for instance  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-01-05. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

The author of the FT article is talking about total debt.

For Q3 2021, US federal government debt alone was 122% of GDP. Source: <https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEGDQ188S>

For Q2 2021, US household debt was 78% of GDP. Source: <https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/HDTGPDUSQ163N>

To get total debt you would also need to add the debt of corporations and state and local governments. The total being over 300% seems very likely.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks a lot username_2. Appreciate it.  

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