U.S.
Government's Foreign Debt Now $47,495 Per Household
October 22, 2012
President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao on March 26,
2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
(CNSNews.com) - The debt that
the U.S. government owes to foreign interests now equals approximately $47,495
for each household in the United States, according to the latest data released
by the U.S. Treasury and the Census Bureau.
The portion of the U.S. government’s foreign debt now owed to interests
in Mainland China is about $10,090 per household.
At the end of August, the latest period reported by the U.S.
Treasury, foreign interests held a total of $5,430,000,000,000 in U.S.
government debt. According to the Census Bureau’s latest estimate (which was for June 2012)
there were 114,328,000 households in the United States. Therefore, the total
U.S. government debt held by foreign interests was about $47,494.93 per
household.
Back in January 2009, foreign interests held a total
of $3,071,700,000,000 in U.S. government debt. That month, according to the Census Bureau, there were
111,079,000 households in the United States. Therefore the total U.S.
government debt held by foreign interests was about $27,653.29 per household.
Since January 2009, the total U.S. government debt held by foreign
interests has climbed from approximately $27,653.29 per household to
approximately $47,494.93 per household—an increase of about $19,841.64 per
household.
Among foreign interests, those in Mainland China hold the largest share
of the U.S. government’s debt. The Mainland Chinese, according to the Treasury,
owned $1,153,600,000,000 in U.S. Treasury securities as of the end of August.
Back in January 2009, interests in Mainland China held only $739.6
billion in U.S. government debt. That month, the U.S. government owed about
$6,658 per American household to interests in China. As of the end of August,
the U.S. government owed about $10,090 per American household to interests in
China—an increase since January 2009 of about $3,432 per household.
