USA - As 2025 approaches, America’s fiscal health is in serious trouble with a ballooning federal debt exceeding 100% of the GDP. It’s projected to get even worse. A year ago, the US national debt amounted to more than $33.8 trillion, according to Senate Republican Joint Economic Committee data. As of December 24, 2024, the debt has climbed to nearly $36.3 trillion, a $2.5 trillion increase within the past 12 months. If the average daily rate of debt growth over the past three years continues, the gross national debt will reach $37 trillion within 5 months, $39.2 trillion in 2026, and $40.95 trillion in 2027, according to the most recent Congressional Budget Office 10-year forecast. Economist Romina Boccia, director of Budget and Entitlement Policy at the Cato Institute, told The Center Square that the “excessively high, and growing unsustainably fast” national debt has “real implications” for the future of the country.