Guide
Is the national debt growing faster than the economy?
Over the long run, yes. At the end of fiscal 2025 the federal debt was 124% of a year's GDP, everything the U.S. economy produces, up from 32% in 1981 and 63% in 2007; the debt has grown faster than the economy in most years since 1981. In fiscal 2025 alone the share rose, from 122.5% to 124.0%, so the debt grew faster than the economy that year.
Figures update themselves from 7 charts; newest data as of September 30, 2026.
Debt as a share of GDP, fiscal 2025
124%
Up from 32% in 1981, the lowest since 1948
Federal debt, end of fiscal 2026
$40.2 trillion
About 4 times the $10 trillion of 2008
Interest paid, fiscal 2026
$1.36 trillion
3.3 times the $414 billion of 2010
Debt compared with the economy since 1948
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Dividing the debt by GDP shows whether it is outgrowing the economy that has to carry it: the share rises when the debt grows faster and falls when the economy does. After World War II it fell from 96% in 1948 to 32% in 1981, as the economy grew faster than the debt. It then rose through the 1980s, fell in the late 1990s, climbed after the 2008 financial crisis, passed 100% in 2013 and jumped to 126% in 2020, during the pandemic.
In fiscal 2025 it was 124%, against 122.5% a year earlier and a peak of 126% in 2020.
The debt in dollars
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The debt was $40.2 trillion at the end of fiscal 2026, about 4 times the $10 trillion of 2008, in dollars of the day. That is about $110,100 for every person in the U.S. The dollar total almost always rises, because prices and the economy grow too, which is why the share of GDP is the better measure of whether it is growing faster.
Why it grows
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The debt grows by each year's deficit, what the government spends beyond what it collects. That was $1.99 trillion in fiscal 2026 and $3.13 trillion in 2020.
Interest adds to the cost. The government spent $1.36 trillion on interest in fiscal 2026, 3.3 times the $414 billion of 2010, as both the debt and interest rates rose. The average rate on the debt was 3.53% at the end of fiscal 2026, against a low of 1.61% in 2021.
Who the government owes
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At the end of August 2026, U.S. investors other than the government held 46% of the debt, foreign investors 23%, federal trust funds such as Social Security's 19% and the Federal Reserve 11%.
The numbers
Each year, newest first. A dash means no figure.
| Fiscal year | Debt as % of GDP | Average interest rate (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | – | 3.531 |
| 2025 | 124.0 | 3.363 |
| 2024 | 122.5 | 3.324 |
| 2023 | 121.1 | 2.97 |
| 2022 | 121.0 | 2.07 |
| 2021 | 123.4 | 1.605 |
| 2020 | 126.3 | 1.772 |
| 2019 | 106.7 | 2.492 |
| 2018 | 105.3 | 2.494 |
| 2017 | 104.5 | 2.284 |
| 2016 | 105.0 | 2.232 |
| 2015 | 99.9 | 2.35 |
| 2014 | 102.3 | 2.401 |
| 2013 | 100.3 | 2.43 |
| 2012 | 99.7 | 2.588 |
| 2011 | 95.6 | 2.886 |
| 2010 | 91.1 | 3.052 |
| 2009 | 82.3 | 3.347 |
| 2008 | 67.8 | 4.188 |
| 2007 | 63.0 | 5.009 |
| 2006 | 62.4 | 5.022 |
| 2005 | 61.8 | 4.704 |
| 2004 | 61.3 | 4.517 |
| 2003 | 60.1 | 4.654 |
| 2002 | 57.5 | 5.298 |
| 2001 | 55.2 | 6.064 |
| 2000 | 56.1 | – |
| 1999 | 59.7 | – |
| 1998 | 61.9 | – |
| 1997 | 64.1 | – |
| 1996 | 65.7 | – |
| 1995 | 65.8 | – |
| 1994 | 65.4 | – |
| 1993 | 65.1 | – |
| 1992 | 63.3 | – |
| 1991 | 60.2 | – |
| 1990 | 54.8 | – |
| 1989 | 51.4 | – |
| 1988 | 50.6 | – |
| 1987 | 49.3 | – |
| 1986 | 47.0 | – |
| 1985 | 42.7 | – |
| 1984 | 39.8 | – |
| 1983 | 38.9 | – |
| 1982 | 34.5 | – |
| 1981 | 31.8 | – |
| 1980 | 32.5 | – |
| 1979 | 32.2 | – |
| 1978 | 33.9 | – |
| 1977 | 34.5 | – |
| 1976 | 34.7 | – |
| 1975 | 33.2 | – |
| 1974 | 32.0 | – |
| 1973 | 33.9 | – |
| 1972 | 35.1 | – |
| 1971 | 35.7 | – |
| 1970 | 35.4 | – |
| 1969 | 36.1 | – |
| 1968 | 38.7 | – |
| 1967 | 39.0 | – |
| 1966 | 41.0 | – |
| 1965 | 44.7 | – |
| 1964 | 47.1 | – |
| 1963 | 49.5 | – |
| 1962 | 50.9 | – |
| 1961 | 52.9 | – |
| 1960 | 53.6 | – |
| 1959 | 56.4 | – |
| 1958 | 58.4 | – |
| 1957 | 58.4 | – |
| 1956 | 62.2 | – |
| 1955 | 67.5 | – |
| 1954 | 70.1 | – |
| 1953 | 69.6 | – |
| 1952 | 72.6 | – |
| 1951 | 78.0 | – |
| 1950 | 92.3 | – |
| 1949 | 91.4 | – |
| 1948 | 96.3 | – |
What these numbers can and can't tell you
This is the total federal debt, including what the government owes its own trust funds, divided by GDP over the same fiscal year. Many economists also quote "debt held by the public", which leaves out the trust funds and is lower.
GDP figures are revised as the Bureau of Economic Analysis gets better data, so recent shares can change a little. Dollar figures are not adjusted for inflation. When Treasury or BEA publish new numbers, the charts update themselves, and so does every number on this page.
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Sources
U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Historical Debt Outstanding; GDP from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (NIPA Table 1.1.5) (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of September 30, 2025, in these charts:
U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Historical Debt Outstanding (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of September 30, 2026, in these charts:
U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Monthly Treasury Statement (Table 9) (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of September 30, 2026, in these charts:
U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Interest Expense on the Public Debt Outstanding (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of September 30, 2026, in these charts:
U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Average Interest Rates on U.S. Treasury Securities (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of September 30, 2026, in these charts:
U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Historical Debt Outstanding; population from the World Bank (SP.POP.TOTL) (Debt data public domain (U.S. government work); World Bank population data CC BY 4.0), data as of September 30, 2025, in these charts:
U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Debt to the Penny; U.S. Treasury, TIC Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities; Federal Reserve Bank of New York, SOMA Holdings (Treasury data public domain (U.S. government work). The SOMA Holdings data is subject to the Terms of Use posted at newyorkfed.org; the New York Fed is not responsible for publication.), data as of August 31, 2026, in these charts: