US federal debt is still a record high. This week it passed a milestone: the fourth straight year the deficit has passed the $1tn mark. As of today, the national debt stands at $16,066,241,407,385.80 (just over $16 trillion).

It's an issue that's sure to come up in the first presidential debate this Wednesday.

So, how does the US borrow money? Treasury bonds are how the US - and all governments for that matter - borrow hard cash: they issue government securities, which other countries and institutions buy. So, the US national debt is owned mostly in the US - but the $5.4tn foreign-owned debt is owned predominantly by Asian economies.

Under President Obama's first term, that figure has gone up from $3tn, a rise of 74.1%. Under George W Bush, it went up too - by 85% over the whole two terms - and 64% in his second term alone.

The US Treasury releases the figures on this every quarter - we have made them more useable. So, who has the most?

The key findings are:

• As of July this year, US Treasury bonds owned overseas accounted for $5.4tn of the national debt - up 14.6% on last year. That's not everything - the US now owes over $16tn.

• China is the biggest owner of US Treasury bonds - over $1.14tn. But it's down 12.6% on last year, backing up reports that China is selling off its US treasury bonds

• Bonds bought in the UK (mainly private investors and pension funds) make it the eighth country on the list at $140.9bn - up 13.5% on January 2009 when Obama took over

It reflects a US national debt which has grown starkly, from $7.8tn in 2005 to busting through the US debt ceiling of $14.294tn last year - according to these day by day figures.

Bad as that number is, using the bald total figure is not as representative as using a measure which compares the debt to the size of the economy. That is, debt as a percentage of gross domestic product - GDP. And, looking at that figure up to the end of 2010 (using OECD data), Britain is actually worse off than the US.

The full data is below. What can you do with it?

Data summary

MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES (in billions of dollars), HOLDINGS AT END OF PERIOD $bn. Click heading to sort table. Download this data Country July 2012. July 2011. Jan 2009. % change, Jan 2009 to July 2012 % change Jul 2011 to Jul 2012 Grand Total 5348.5 4668.3 3071.7 74.1 14.57 China, Mainland 1149.6 1314.9 739.6 55.4 -12.57 Japan 1117.1 885.2 634.8 76.0 26.2 Oil Exporters 262.3 244 186.6 40.6 7.5 Brazil 253 219.1 133.5 89.5 15.47 Carib Bnkng Ctrs 246.2 177.9 177.1 39.0 38.39 All Other 224.1 193.9 147 52.4 15.58 Taiwan 196.1 147.6 73.3 167.5 32.86 Switzerland 190.1 118.5 62.1 206.1 60.42 Russia 154.3 141.7 119.6 29.0 8.89 Belgium 144.2 86.6 15.6 824.4 66.51 United Kingdom 140.9 141 124.1 13.5 -0.07 Hong Kong 136.7 105.9 71.7 90.7 29.08 Luxembourg 128.3 114.1 87 47.5 12.45 Singapore 92.7 65.7 38.5 140.8 41.1 Ireland 88.2 52.2 50 76.4 68.97 Norway 69.9 23.7 21.9 219.2 194.94 France 64.8 45.6 17.9 262.0 42.11 Germany 62.8 63 56.2 11.7 -0.32 Canada 55.6 46.8 8.4 561.9 18.8 India 53.9 40.3 32.5 65.8 33.75 Mexico 53.5 31.1 34.8 53.7 72.03 Thailand 53 58.4 37.2 42.5 -9.25 Korea, South 44.3 33.4 31.3 41.5 32.63 Philippines 36.7 30 11.6 216.4 22.33 Turkey 30 42.8 30.8 -2.6 -29.91 Chile 29.7 19.6 15.2 95.4 51.53 Poland 29.4 31.9 3.3 790.9 -7.84 Sweden 28.2 28.4 12.4 127.4 -0.7 Colombia 28 18.8 11.5 143.5 48.94 Italy 27.8 21.3 15.6 78.2 30.52 Israel 25.5 20.9 16.9 50.9 22.01 Australia 25 20.4 7.8 220.5 22.55 Netherlands 24.6 23.6 16.8 46.4 4.24 Spain 24 14.4 4.2 471.4 66.67 Malaysia 20 15.3 8 150.0 30.72 Denmark 14.6 10.8 35.19 Peru 11.8 9.6 22.92 South Africa 11.5 10.1 13.86 Egypt 16.9

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