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Fact check: How does Canada's national debt per capita compare to other G7 countries in 2025?
Executive Summary
Canada’s national debt per capita in 2025 is reported at about $60,521, placing it below the United States’ per-person burden of $105,374 but above the United Kingdom’s reported $54,045 in the same year; however, available sources do not provide a full, consistent ranking across all G7 members for 2025. Multiple datasets and commentaries either focus on bilateral comparisons or aggregate G7 debt-to-GDP trends, leaving gaps when trying to produce a definitive per-capita G7 league table for 2025 [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Why the per-capita number matters — and what the headline figures show
Per-capita debt translates national liabilities into a per-resident metric that illustrates individual exposure if the burden were evenly divided. The most often-cited figure for Canada in 2025 is about $60,521 per person, derived from tax-and-debt compilations and country comparisons that emphasize public debt converted into a per-capita value. That same set of comparisons highlights the United States at roughly $105,374 per person, underscoring that Canada’s per-capita debt is materially lower than the U.S. but not necessarily low in absolute terms [1] [2].
2. Fragmented reporting — why you don’t see a neat G7 ranking
Available public sources frequently report debt as a share of GDP or focus on individual bilateral comparisons rather than a standardized per-capita G7 table. TaxTips.ca compiles debt-per-person tables for G7 nations but its presentation and other media summaries stop short of a consistent, fully comparable G7 ranking for 2025. Major market commentaries and research briefs instead emphasize overall G7 debt trends and systemic bond-market implications, which leaves per-capita cross-country comparability incomplete in the public record for 2025 [1] [4].
3. What official Canadian statistics add to the picture
Canada’s own government finance releases in 2025 provide net debt levels and debt-to-GDP ratios that help cross-check per-capita calculations. Statistics Canada reported a net debt of $597.4 billion in Q1 2025 (19.2% of GDP) and later a net debt of $558.3 billion (17.8% of GDP) alongside a Q2 surplus—data points that align with a per-capita debt figure near the TaxTips.ca estimate when divided by population. These official fiscal snapshots confirm that Canada’s headline per-capita figure is grounded in published national debt totals, even if different accounting choices (gross vs. net, general government vs. central government) can shift the number [5] [6].
4. Cross-country comparisons: the limits of like-for-like measurement
Comparing per-capita debt across the G7 requires harmonizing definitions (net vs. gross), coverage (general government vs. central), currency conversions, and population bases, which most quick-reference pieces do not fully reconcile. Some sources list Japan and the U.S. among the highest public debt burdens in 2025, but these rankings often rely on debt-to-GDP ratios rather than per-capita figures. Consequently, a single per-capita ranking that is both comprehensive and directly comparable for all G7 members is not present in the cited set of sources [7] [1].
5. What other authoritative sources and market analysts emphasize
Market coverage in 2025 focused more on the macro risks of rising G7 debt levels and bond market stress than on per-capita league tables. Reuters and macroeconomic trackers highlighted that G7 sovereign debt was again a focal point for investors, pointing to increased issuance and fiscal pressures in large economies. These analyses help contextualize why per-capita numbers matter for investor sentiment but stop short of the granular G7 per-person comparison Canadians often request [4] [7].
6. Reconciling the disparate figures — a cautious conclusion
Bringing the data together, the best-supported statement is that Canada’s 2025 debt per person is approximately $60.5k, clearly lower than the U.S. per-person figure and marginally higher than the U.K. figure cited in comparative posts. The evidence base shows consistency between independent compilations and Canada’s official debt totals, but no single source among the provided materials delivers a fully harmonized 2025 per-capita ranking across all seven G7 countries, leaving some comparative questions open [1] [3] [6].
7. What’s missing and what to watch next
To produce a definitive G7 per-capita ranking for 2025 requires a harmonized dataset from an international fiscal statistics provider (IMF, OECD, or harmonized national accounts) that reports comparable debt definitions and population figures for the same date. Absent that, analysts should treat per-capita comparisons as directional rather than exact: Canada falls below the U.S. substantially, is close to or above the U.K., and sits amid a diverse G7 landscape where measurement choices materially affect country ordering [1] [8].