What is the term for the amount of money a government owes?

The amount of money a government owes is called the national debt. It is the accumulated total of government borrowing that remains unpaid, including money borrowed by issuing bonds and other securities.

National debt grows when a government spends more than it collects in revenue over time. A single year in which spending exceeds revenue creates a budget deficit; borrowing to cover that deficit adds to the national debt. In contrast, the debt is a stock measured at a point in time, while the deficit is a flow measured over a period such as a fiscal year.

Governments borrow for many reasons, including funding public services, responding to wars or natural disasters, building infrastructure, and supporting the economy during recessions. The term can refer to a national government’s debt specifically, while “public debt” may be used more broadly or may mean debt held by outside investors. Another common mix-up is treating debt and deficit as synonyms: the deficit is the yearly shortfall, whereas national debt is the accumulated balance of past borrowing.