The World’s Appetite for Debt Is Smashing Records

Companies and governments have issued a record $9.7 trillion of bonds and other debt this year, as extraordinary support from the Federal Reserve and other central banks has fueled a borrowing bonanza.

The total covers the year to Nov. 26 and includes nearly $5.1 trillion of corporate bonds, as well as some kinds of loans, including riskier leveraged loans, according to Refinitiv. Both figures already exceed those for any prior full year.

More broadly, the Institute of International Finance recently said global debt had risen $15 trillion to $272 trillion in the first nine months of this year, and is set to hit $277 trillion by year-end — a record 365% of world gross domestic product.

The IIF is an industry group representing hundreds of financial institutions. Its figures are broader, and include household debt.

The huge sums reflect how the Fed and its peers,…