U.S. Federal Debt · Outstanding Balance
How big is the U.S. national debt?
As of Sep 18, 2026, total U.S. public debt outstanding was $40.10T. Of that, $32.40T (80.8%) is held by investors and the public, and $7.70T sits inside federal trust funds. The balance grew $2.59T over the past year, a 6.9% increase.
Total public debt outstanding
One observation per month, Jan 2013 – Sep 2026. Hover the line for any month.
Download: national-debt.csv · CSV · public domain
Year by year
Balance on the last reported day of each calendar year, split by who holds it.
| Year | Total | Held by public | Intragovernmental | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (as of Sep 18, 2026) | $40.10T | $32.40T | $7.70T | ▲ +1.59T |
| 2025 | $38.51T | $30.85T | $7.67T | ▲ +2.30T |
| 2024 | $36.22T | $28.84T | $7.38T | ▲ +2.22T |
| 2023 | $34.00T | $26.94T | $7.06T | ▲ +2.58T |
| 2022 | $31.42T | $24.52T | $6.90T | ▲ +1.80T |
| 2021 | $29.62T | $23.14T | $6.47T | ▲ +1.87T |
| 2020 | $27.75T | $21.63T | $6.12T | ▲ +4.55T |
| 2019 | $23.20T | $17.17T | $6.03T | ▲ +1.23T |
| 2018 | $21.97T | $16.10T | $5.87T | ▲ +1.48T |
| 2017 | $20.49T | $14.81T | $5.68T | ▲ +515.9B |
| 2016 | $19.98T | $14.43T | $5.54T | ▲ +1.05T |
| 2015 | $18.92T | $13.67T | $5.25T | ▲ +780.7B |
| 2014 | $18.14T | $13.02T | $5.12T | ▲ +789.5B |
| 2013 | $17.35T | $12.36T | $5.00T | — |
The two halves of the debt
Debt held by the public is money the Treasury has borrowed from investors — households, pension funds, banks, foreign central banks — by selling Bills, Notes, Bonds, TIPS and Floating Rate Notes. This is the portion that carries a market interest rate and drives the government's interest bill.
Intragovernmental holdings are what the government owes itself. When the Social Security and Medicare trust funds run a surplus, that money is invested in special non-marketable Treasury securities. It counts toward the total debt, but the interest flows from one federal account to another rather than out to investors.
This series is updated every business day with a one-day lag, which makes it the most current figure on this site — the average-rate and interest-expense tables are published monthly.