OTTAWA — Interest payments on the national debt soared more than 37 per cent in the third quarter of 2023 over the previous year, new data published by Statistics Canada show, as rising interest rates collided with Ottawa's record borrowing to drive the cost of maintaining public debt to new highs.

General government debt, including subnational governments, increased a combined 20.7 per cent, as provinces and territories experienced a more modest 10.7-per-cent average growth in interest costs.