Ratio of total debt to equity in the U.S. 2012-2023

In the last quarter of 2023, the debt to equity ratio in the United States amounted to 84.24 percent. Debt to equity ratio explained The debt to equity financial ratio indicates the relationship between shareholders' equity and debt used to finance the assets of a company. In order to make the calculation the data of the two required components are taken from the firm’s balance sheet. If the company is a publicly traded company then it is possible to make the calculation by taking the market value for both.The composition of debt and equity of an enterprise is much debated as is the influence that it is able to exert on the value of the firm. Nevertheless, it is important in helping investors such as banks to identify companies that are highly leveraged and therefore pose a higher risk. It is best explained by taking the example of an entrepreneur wishing to expand their operation and going to the bank for a loan. If this small business owner had total assets amounting to 120,000 U.S. dollars and liabilities (mostly loans) amounting to 100,000 U.S. dollars the bank to which the request is being made would first have to deduce the business owner’s equity; 20,000 dollars (total assets minus liabilities). With this figure the bank would proceed to divide total liabilities by equity, which gives the ratio of 500 percent. In other terms, this means that for every one dollar of equity the small business owner has 5 dollars of debt. He is highly leveraged and therefore represents high risk to the bank.

在2023年最后一个季度，美国的企业资产负债率达到了84.24%。所谓资产负债率，是指股东权益与用于融资公司资产债务之间的关系。为进行计算，所需两个组成部分的数据均来源于企业的资产负债表。若企业为上市公司，则可通过取其市场价值进行计算。关于企业债务与权益的构成，以及它对企业价值所产生的影响，一直是热议的焦点。尽管如此，它在帮助投资者，如银行等，识别高杠杆且因此风险较高的企业方面具有重要意义。以下以一位希望扩张其业务的创业者为例进行说明，该创业者向银行申请贷款。如果这位小型企业主的总资产为12万美元，而负债（主要为贷款）为10万美元，申请贷款的银行首先需要计算出企业主的权益；2万美元（总资产减去负债）。以此数据为基础，银行将对总负债进行权益的除法运算，从而得到500%的比率。换句话说，这意味着对于每1美元的权益，该小型企业主有5美元的债务。他处于高杠杆状态，因此对银行来说风险较高。