What were the trends in debt-to-GDP for G7 countries from 2019 to 2025?
Executive summary
From 2019 through 2025 the G7’s public debt burden rose overall from pandemic-era peaks and remained elevated: IMF-based maps and Visual Capitalist show global gross government debt at 94.7% of GDP in 2025 and single-country extremes such as Japan above 200% of GDP in 2025 (Visual Capitalist) [1] [2]. Multiple analysts and ratings agencies say most G7 members have debt ratios at or above 60–100% of GDP and that six G7 nations exceed the 100% threshold in recent reporting (RSM US) [3].
1. Pandemic hangover: a clear spike, then partial easing
Governments added large sums of borrowing during and after COVID-19; reporting from the IMF-based Visual Capitalist map shows world government gross debt rising to $111 trillion and a global debt-to-GDP ratio of 94.7% in 2025, a rise from 92.4% the year before [1]. Analysts of the G7 note that while ratios peaked around the pandemic, many advanced economies still carry elevated debt burdens through 2024–25, with some modest downward drift in weighted averages projected farther out [1] [4].
2. Japan: the outlier at two-plus times GDP
Japan remains the extreme case: Visual Capitalist and related IMF-sourced graphics report Japan’s gross government debt at roughly 230% of GDP in 2025 (Visual Capitalist) and other trackers place Japanese net debt among the highest in the G7 through 2024–25 [2] [5]. Commentators stress Japan’s idiosyncratic dynamics — very large domestic ownership of debt and legacy yield-curve policies — so high debt ratios there have different market implications than in other G7 states [3].
3. United States: largest absolute debt, elevated ratio and market concern
The U.S. is identified in multiple pieces as holding the largest absolute government liabilities — cited at over $36 trillion in one projection for 2025 — and is prominent in market worry narratives because fiscal decisions (including tax and spending changes) could add materially to future deficits and debt [6] [7]. Reuters and other reporting point to a renewed investor focus on G7 sovereign debt levels and U.S. Treasury market volatility in 2024–25 as debt trends and policy choices came under scrutiny [7].
4. Europe’s mixed picture: France, Italy, Germany diverge
European G7 members show different paths. RSM and Scope Ratings highlight Italy’s still-high but slowly improving debt dynamics (with net debt ratios falling from earlier highs) while France’s debt is shown rising or remaining elevated in some projections [3] [4]. Reuters coverage flags Germany as having the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio within the G7 but increasing borrowing for large investment and defence plans in 2025, which drew market attention to German bond issuance [8].
5. Canada and the UK: high household and public sensitivities
Canada is singled out for particularly high household debt relative to GDP among G7 countries in IMF-based assessments, a vulnerability distinct from sovereign debt but relevant to broader financial stability conversations [9]. The UK and Canada both show elevated public-debt trajectories in 2024–25 commentary, and analysts warn that high debt limits fiscal flexibility should an economic downturn occur [3] [7].
6. Forecasts and agency perspectives: modest improvements but persistent risks
Scope Ratings projects a gently falling weighted-average G7 debt ratio to the upper 80s of percent of GDP by the later 2020s, implying modest improvement from pandemic peaks but not a full reversal [4]. RSM and other analysts conclude that six G7 nations exceed 100% of GDP and that absent fiscal consolidation many will remain exposed to interest-rate and investor-sentiment swings [3] [4].
7. What’s clear — and what reporting doesn’t settle
Available sources consistently report rising nominal global debt and high G7 ratios through 2025, cite Japan as the highest-ratio G7 outlier, and indicate the U.S. leads in absolute debt levels and market attention [1] [2] [6] [7]. Sources do not provide a single, consistent year-by-year table for every G7 country from 2019–2025 in the materials supplied; countryeconomy, TradingEconomics, IMF datamapper and other databases exist for precise annual series but those specific year-by-year figures are not included in the excerpts provided here [10] [11] [12].
8. Bottom line for readers
Debt-to-GDP trends in the G7 from 2019–25 show a major pandemic-driven elevation, persistence of high ratios through 2024–25, and divergent national stories: Japan as an extreme ratio case, the U.S. as the largest absolute debtor and flashpoint for markets, and European members showing mixed direction depending on policy and growth. Forecasts point to only gradual easing absent forceful fiscal consolidation, making sovereign-debt dynamics a continuing focus for investors and ratings bodies [2] [3] [4].