Some economists argue that the national debt is not a critical concern.

In 2025, the US credit rating was downgraded over concerns about the debt-to-GDP ratio.

Some argue that the rising US national debt has become more important in recent months.

For everyday Americans, a relatively high national debt can lead to higher interest rates on financial products such as mortgages.

The national debt is growing at a faster rate than the economy.

The national debt is the total amount the US government owes its creditors

This US Treasury page explains what the national debt is, how it accumulates from annual deficits, and why rising debt can affect interest costs, fiscal flexibility, and long-term economic stability.

The US national debt is over $31T

The US national debt is at its highest level ever. Learn how the national debt grew to that level and what it means for US economic growth with charts and simple explanations.

In 2025, the US national debt per person was $113K.

Vizualize global debt by country

Global debt reached $226T by the end of 2020—the biggest one-year jump since World War II. This graphic compares the debt-to-GDP ratio of various countries.

Key moments that shaped the national debt include the Civil War, both World Wars, the 2008 recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tax policy can have a direct impact on the national debt, with past presidents' changes to tax codes inflating the deficit.

About 80% of US debt is held by domestic and foreign investors.

See a chart showing how much the US federal government pays in interest on its debt.

The US debt ceiling is the threshold Congress sets for federal borrowing.

Explore a database that shows how the US national debt changes over a 24-hour period.

The US has carried debt since 1791

After the Revolutionary War, the US owed $75M to nations like France. Debt builds when spending exceeds revenue, funding programs, wars, and economic recovery efforts. Most debt is domestic, like Social Security bonds, with foreign nations also holding a share.

Despite being one of the world's richest nations, Switzerland has the highest household debt of any country in the world, totaling 125% of its GDP.

America’s looming debt spiral

The United States has a debt problem. In 1989, the national debt was almost $3T. As of 2023, that number had ballooned to more than $30T. This video explains why the national debt grew so quickly, and what America's options are going forward. It also explores why the problem is trapped in political gridlock. Watch it to find out more.

Why Ray Dalio thinks the US deficit is a political problem

Dalio frequently argues that debt cycles are inevitable and a tradition of every empire. However, he said in 2025 that the US was headed for a debt crisis. Dalio says that while Republicans and Democrats agree on the math of the debt crisis, all politicians make promises to neither increase taxes nor cut government benefits—which Dalio says can't close the deficit.

Nearly 70% of the US government’s debt is domestic

This includes intragovernmental holdings like the Social Security Trust Fund and investments from US citizens, banks, and mutual funds. About 30% is foreign-held, with countries like Japan and China as major creditors, investing in US Treasury securities due to their perceived safety.

The current federal budget, deficit, and debt, in charts

The US Treasury regularly publishes updated data on the federal budget, and this site hosts visualizations of that data. See reports on spending, revenues, deficits, and where the national debt stands.

Total national debt as of yesterday

Debt to the Penny is the total debt of the U.S. government and is reported daily. It is made up of intragovernmental holdings and debt held by the public.

If the US government paid off its debt, it could disrupt the entire bond market, as Treasury bonds are among the most common bonds for investors and the majority of the national debt is in bonds.

The federal deficit is the gap between what the US spends and what it collects.

The national debt consists of public debt and intragovernmental debt.

The US and Denmark are the only two countries known to abide by a predetermined borrowing limit.

Many local governments also struggle to rein in their spending.

See the growth of US consumer debt

Americans reached an all-time high debt burden in 2024. Data compiled from The Kaplan Group shows the evolution of auto loans, mortgages, credit card debt, and student loans from 2003 to 2023, and finds that after a brief decline after 2008, the total debt burden grew rapidly.

Why Americans are drowning in credit card debt

Americans owe more than $1T to credit card companies. And with rising interest rates that prevent cardholders from paying down debt (not to mention the rising cost of living), that number is likely to keep growing. A podcast episode explains how the US got here, and what policymakers and individuals can do about it.

The federal government has spent more money annually than it has collected every year since 2022.

Credit cards were the fourth-highest source of US consumer debt as of 2024

US consumer debt nationwide totaled $17.9T as of 2024 Q3. Mortgage debt ranked as number one, with student loan debt coming in at number two.

The debt ceiling is a legal cap on how much money the US government can borrow.

Interest rates have historically been an indicator of the US economy's overall health.

The federal debt ceiling 101

The debt ceiling periodically takes center stage as Congress debates whether to increase or suspend this self-imposed limit on its borrowing authority. Learn the basics on this crucial feature of US fiscal policy with this Q&A.

Student debt has a widespread economic impact

Student debt is no different than the big rent or car payment that comes out of someone’s paycheck every month: Its presence affects that household’s purchasing power. Multiply that household by the 43 million Americans who had outstanding federal loan debt in September 2023, and student debt’s impact becomes considerable.

What happens if the US doesn't pay its debt?

A video created during the debt ceiling debates of 2021 outlining what would happen if the US failed to meet its debt obligations. Its lessons are applicable to today's debates.

Why countries have credit ratings

Sovereign credit ratings work like national credit scores, measuring a country’s ability and willingness to repay its debt. Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch are the major agencies assigning these ratings, which influence borrowing costs and investor confidence.

Bond yields are the returns investors earn from a bond's interest—and they're a key economic barometer.

A 'debt trap' refers to the need for loans or credit to cover the expenses incurred from other debt

Debt traps can be caused by unforeseen expenses or inadequate savings and can be a brutal cycle to break. At the end of 2025, total household debt in the US reached $18.8T, according to data from the Federal Reserve of New York.

The average US household carries $105,056 in total debt

This article breaks down the average household debt by category, including credit card debt ($6,523), personal loans ($11,274), and more.

Minting a coin that can pay off the federal debt has been proposed as a quick fix to rampant borrowing.

Investors collectively owned $28T in US Treasury securities as of 2025.

The global economy runs on US dollars, with nearly 90% of international trade in 2019 being processed in US dollars.

In the wake of the Great Depression, a Russian-American economist named Simon Kuznets popularized the formula for gross domestic product to summarize the health of the economy and provide the American government with a metric to track growth.

Ranking the world’s economies: 1980 vs. 2025

The US remains the world’s largest economy, having increased its annual gross domestic product from $2.9T in 1980 to $30.6T in 2025. In 1980, China ranked seventh globally with a GDP of $304B. In 2025, China ranked second with a GDP of $19.4T.

US state economies compared to entire countries

This map compares US state economies by their gross domestic product to that of a similarly sized country. For instance, California has the largest state economy in the US, with a GDP nearly equal to that of India, the fifth-largest economy in the world. Click here to see how the rest of the states compare.

Visualize $102T of global debt, based on data from the International Monetary Fund's October 2024 outlook.

Treasury bonds, notes, and bills are critical vehicles for the federal government to raise money for public expenses and manage the national debt.

Roughly 43 million Americans hold a cumulative $1.6T in federal student debt

About 43 million Americans hold a cumulative $1.6T in federal student debt. That's more than the country's combined credit card balance, according to data from in the first quarter of the year 2024.

The Federal Reserve follows the health of the US economy by tracking the money supply

That includes all of the physical and electronic money in circulation. It tracks not only US coins and bills, but also the money that moves through bank deposits. The Fed uses metrics called trackers to follow different types of transactions through the money supply.

Explore a breakdown of the US gross domestic product, including GDP's growth over time, the GDP of individual states, and which industries contribute the most to US GDP.