United States · General Government Gross Debt, IMF Projection

## What this measures

General government gross debt: all liabilities that require payment of interest or principal, as a percent of GDP. General government covers central, state and local government and social security funds. United States.

## Why it matters

Debt sets how exposed a government is to higher interest rates and how much room it has in the next downturn. The IMF's definition is the one comparison that covers advanced and emerging economies alike.

## How to read it

Higher means more debt relative to the economy. Its direction and the interest rate paid matter more than the level.

Each point is a calendar year, dated December 31. The first three points are the years before the WEO's own year, as published in that WEO (estimates and outturns, flagged forecast = false), so the line joins the history. From the WEO's own year on, every point is an IMF forecast (flagged forecast = true). Every point carries the WEO edition it comes from (vintage). The whole path is replaced when a new WEO is published, in April and October. Palanor does not compute statistics or records on this series and does not project it further.

## What it does not say

Coverage of government and of liabilities varies by country; the WEO footnotes each. Gross debt ignores the assets governments hold (see net debt).

## Source

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026 (the IMF's published database file, WEOOct2026all.xlsx). Figures as published, rounded to at most four decimals. Provided by the IMF "as is" and available free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor.