TOKYO – Japan’s total debt rose to a record 1,342.17 trillion yen ($8.6 trillion) at the end of 2025, Finance Ministry data showed Tuesday, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s pledge to expand spending cast doubt over the outlook for the country’s fiscal health.

The debt, up 24.54 trillion yen from a year earlier, is more than twice the size of its economy and faces upward pressure due to ballooning social security, national defense and debt-servicing costs, reflecting higher government bond yields in tandem with increases in long-term interest rates.

Japan’s debt surpassed the 1,000 trillion yen mark in 2013 and rose further during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ministry expects that it will reach 1,473.5 trillion yen by the end of March this year.

The data comes as concerns over fiscal health mount after the supplementary budget for the current year ending March to finance Takaichi’s expansionary stimulus package reached 18.3 trillion yen, the largest since fiscal 2022 during the coronavirus pandemic.

But as tax revenues are not enough to fund it, the government plans to issue 11.7 trillion yen in new bonds to cover more than 60 percent of the total.

Under the banner of “responsible and proactive public finances,” Takaichi has vowed to lower the country’s debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio by expanding the economy through investments in growth sectors.

In a move apparently aimed at addressing concerns about deteriorating finances, she has also pledged that the proposed two-year break on consumption tax on food and beverages will be implemented without issuing deficit-covering bonds.

As of the end of December, the state’s debt consisted of 1,197.64 trillion yen in government bonds, which includes 1,094.49 trillion yen for debt redemption and interest payments, in addition to 44.13 trillion yen in borrowing and 100.40 trillion yen in financing bills, according to the ministry.

Long-term borrowing costs have been trending higher amid market expectations that the Bank of Japan will continue raising interest rates, while concerns over Japan’s fiscal health mount on the back of Takaichi’s vow for aggressive fiscal spending.

Swelling debt-servicing costs could also add pressure on the government to trim other spending, in areas such as social security, public works and education.