Global debt rose to a "world record" of 233 trillion dollars (#NewsFlash)

Private sector debt in Canada, France, and Turkey rose to record levels ■ The global debt-to-GDP ratio fell to 318%

Global debt rose to a record $ 233 trillion in the third quarter of 2017, up $ 16 trillion from the end of 2016, according to a study by the International Finance Institute (IIF). Debt from the private sector, excluding the financial sector, rose to a record in Canada, France, Hong Kong, South Korea, Switzerland, and Turkey.

At the same time, the debt-to-GDP ratio fell for the fourth consecutive quarter against the background of global economic growth. The global debt-to-GDP ratio now stands at 318%, down 3% from the third quarter of 2016, according to IIF.

A combination of factors including a rise in global growth, an increase in inflation (in Canada and Turkey) and the effort to prevent the accumulation of debt that would lead to instability (in China and Canada) contributed to the decline in the debt-to-GDP ratio.

According to UN calculations, the global population is 7.6 billion, so the average debt per person is more than $ 30,000. The global debt build-up may cause the world's central banks to stop raising interest rates due to concerns about the solvency of corporate and government debt.

Cryptocurrency advocates often use this (and similar) figures to predict the financial system's collapse. Some argue that the government is too connected to the economy, and both need to be separated from one another to ensure that the government can't and won't abuse its power. Such claims might sound radical today, but who knows how the global debt crisis will be resolved.