Interest payments in North America
North America: Interest payments was 10.3% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Interest payments in North America, 1972–2023
Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of expense.
Analysis
In 2023, interest payments in North America stood at 10.3%.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 21.6% on the previous year and up 28.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, interest payments in North America peaked at 20.2% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 4.9%, in 2020.
North America ranks 11th of 39 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 52 years of available data.
Interest payments in North America, year by year
| Year | % of expense | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 6.5% | — |
| 1973 | 6.1% | -5.6% |
| 1974 | 8.3% | +35.4% |
| 1975 | 7.5% | -10.1% |
| 1976 | 7.8% | +3.7% |
| 1977 | 8.2% | +5.5% |
| 1978 | 7.6% | -7.0% |
| 1979 | 9.5% | +24.2% |
| 1980 | 10.4% | +10.3% |
| 1981 | 11.6% | +11.5% |
| 1982 | 12.9% | +10.7% |
| 1983 | 12.9% | +0.1% |
| 1984 | 14.3% | +10.4% |
| 1985 | 15.8% | +11.0% |
| 1986 | 15.2% | -3.9% |
| 1987 | 15.1% | -0.9% |
| 1988 | 15.3% | +1.5% |
| 1989 | 15.4% | +0.6% |
| 1990 | 20.2% | +31.6% |
| 1991 | 19.4% | -4.1% |
| 1992 | 18.5% | -4.7% |
| 1993 | 17.7% | -4.1% |
| 1994 | 17.8% | +0.8% |
| 1995 | 19.4% | +8.8% |
| 1996 | 19.7% | +1.4% |
| 1997 | 19.5% | -1.1% |
| 1998 | 19.1% | -1.9% |
| 1999 | 18.0% | -6.0% |
| 2000 | 17.4% | -3.1% |
| 2001 | 16.1% | -7.5% |
| 2002 | 13.8% | -14.1% |
| 2003 | 12.3% | -10.8% |
| 2004 | 11.7% | -4.8% |
| 2005 | 11.2% | -5.0% |
| 2006 | 11.3% | +1.3% |
| 2007 | 11.2% | -1.4% |
| 2008 | 9.8% | -12.5% |
| 2009 | 8.1% | -17.1% |
| 2010 | 8.0% | -0.8% |
| 2011 | 8.7% | +7.9% |
| 2012 | 8.4% | -3.6% |
| 2013 | 8.0% | -4.1% |
| 2014 | 7.8% | -3.0% |
| 2015 | 7.2% | -6.8% |
| 2016 | 7.3% | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 7.2% | -1.3% |
| 2018 | 8.0% | +11.0% |
| 2019 | 8.0% | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 4.9% | -39.1% |
| 2021 | 5.6% | +15.5% |
| 2022 | 8.4% | +50.0% |
| 2023 | 10.3% | +21.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 7.7% | 6.1% | 9.5% | 8 |
| 1980s | 13.9% | 10.4% | 15.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 18.9% | 17.7% | 20.2% | 10 |
| 2000s | 12.3% | 8.1% | 17.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.9% | 7.2% | 8.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 7.3% | 4.9% | 10.3% | 4 |
Countries ranked near North America
More public sector data for North America
- Arms imports 1.36 billion SIPRI trend indicator values (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per capita 3.56 SIPRI trend indicator values per person (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per unit of GDP 0 SIPRI trend indicator values per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), annual growth rate 56.45 % change on previous year (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), gaps filled 1.36 billion SIPRI trend indicator values (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), per capita 2,692 current USD per person (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), per unit of GDP 0.0325 current USD per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), annual growth rate 8.84 % change on previous year (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), gaps filled 1.03 trillion current USD (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per square kilometre 48.39 SIPRI trend indicator values per square kilometre (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is interest payments in North America?
- Interest payments in North America was 10.3% in 2023, according to Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest interest payments recorded in North America?
- The highest recorded value was 20.2% in 1990.
- What is the lowest interest payments recorded in North America?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.9% in 2020.
- How does North America rank for interest payments?
- North America ranks 11th out of 39 groups with data for 2023.
- Is interest payments rising or falling in North America?
- Over the last ten years it is up 28.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this North America data come from?
- The figures come from Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Interest payments (% of expense). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 52 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Interest payments include interest payments on government debt (including long-term bonds, long-term loans, and other debt instruments) to domestic and foreign residents. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.