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Fact check: How does Japan's national debt per capita compare to Canada's in 2025?
Executive Summary
Japan’s national debt per capita is reported at $76,857 in the collected analyses, while Canada’s per‑person figures vary across sources—$60,128 in one 2025 comparison and $96,285 on a 2025 “debt clock,” creating a clear discrepancy depending on methodology. The most consistent conclusion across sources is that Japan’s debt burden per person is among the highest in developed countries, but whether it exceeds Canada’s in 2025 depends on which Canadian measure (federal vs combined federal+provincial, gross vs net, or a realtime “clock”) one adopts [1] [2] [3].
1. Why the numbers disagree — a tale of different measurement choices and dates
The datasets cited show material methodological differences that explain the conflicting Canada per‑capita figures. One source gives Canada’s per‑person debt as $60,128 in a G7 tabulation labeled for 2025, placing Canada below Japan’s stated $76,857; another source, described as a Canadian “Debt Clock,” lists Canada at $96,285 in Q1 2025, which would make Canada higher than Japan on that metric [2] [3]. The divergence likely reflects whether the calculation counts only federal government liabilities, combines federal and provincial/net liabilities, uses gross versus net debt, or includes broader public‑sector obligations. Several entries also use different cutoffs and publication dates—spring and autumn 2025—so timing and scope matter significantly when comparing per‑capita metrics [4] [5].
2. What the Japan figures say about scale and context
Across the provided Japan sources, Japan’s per‑person debt of $76,857 is consistent with it being among the world leaders in government debt per capita and government debt as a share of GDP—ratios cited include 216–235% of GDP in 2024–2025 measures. Those high percentages are paired with a domestic ownership profile—reports note roughly 90% of Japanese debt is held domestically, which affects market dynamics and rollover risk differently than externally held obligations [1] [4] [6]. The data thus portray a very large per‑person headline burden in Japan, but one embedded in a domestic financing ecosystem that many analysts treat as lower‑risk than large externally financed indebtedness [7] [6].
3. How Canadian figures depend on scope — federal vs combined and gross vs net
Canadian sources present two very different per‑capita pictures because they appear to measure different aggregates. The “Debt Clock” figure of $96,285 (Q1 2025) seems to reflect a broad, possibly gross‑liability view, while another comparative table lists $60,128 for Canada, likely using a different base or net‑debt approach; meanwhile, Canada’s debt‑to‑GDP ratio is reported near 69–70% for 2024, which is materially lower than Japan’s ratio [3] [2] [8]. The difference also stems from whether provincial debts and other public‑sector obligations are included. The choice to include provincial liabilities and unfunded future commitments can raise per‑capita totals substantially, explaining why Canada’s number can swing above or below Japan’s depending on dataset construction [5] [8].
4. Reconciling the comparison — which number should you use?
To compare reliably, one must align definitions: use the same year, the same numerator (federal only vs all public), and the same denominator (resident population). When aligned to the datasets here that appear to use 2025 consolidated national figures, Japan’s $76,857 per person exceeds Canada’s $60,128 in the G7 table, but not the $96,285 debt‑clock figure that likely uses a broader gross‑liability basis [2] [3]. Given the differing debt‑to‑GDP contexts—Japan above 200% and Canada around 69%—the economic significance of the headline per‑capita number differs: Japan’s large per‑person debt is paired with deeper domestic holdings, while Canada’s lower GDP ratio suggests a lighter macro‑leverage if using comparable net measures [4] [6].
5. Bottom line, caveats, and where this disagreement matters
The bottom line: Japan’s per‑capita government debt is consistently very large; whether it is larger than Canada’s in 2025 depends on which Canadian series you accept. Analysts and policymakers should note the agenda and implication behind chosen measures—public advocacy “debt clocks” tend to present alarming gross totals, while national accounts often prefer net or consolidated figures that show smaller per‑person burdens. For cross‑country policy comparison, always require transparent definitions and the same accounting basis; otherwise the headline claim that “X country has more debt per person than Y” can be true or false depending solely on measurement choices [1] [3] [2].