Today's blog post shows the yields on a couple of benchmark government bond maturities from key countries/economies around the globe.

While bond yields still remain near their historic lows, they have been rising in 2021, particularly with respect to 10-year government bonds (see YTD Change in table).   

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note (T-note) stood at 1.36% on 2/22/21 (12:00 PM CST), 464 basis points below its historical average yield of 6.00% since 1/5/62 (not in table), according to Bloomberg.

The yield spread between the U.S. 2-year T-note and the 10-year T-note was 125 basis points on 2/22/21 (12:00 PM CST), roughly in line with its 30-year average spread of 117 basis points, according to Bloomberg.   

The Institute of International Finance reported that global debt stood at $281 trillion in 2020, according to Reuters. That figure was $210 trillion in 2013. 

S&P Global estimates that the amount of debt issued by governments and companies will dip 3% year-over-year to $8 trillion in 2021, according to Reuters. The $8 trillion total is around 15% higher than pre-COVID levels. 

As of 2/4/21, the total amount of negative-yielding debt surpassed the $16 trillion mark worldwide, according to Bloomberg.