Historical Debt Outstanding · total debt on the date of each row
How much was the US national debt in each year since 1790?
On the national debt was $40.17 trillion, $2.53 trillion more than on .
The national debt on the date of each row, 1790 to 2026
The national debt on the date of each row, 1977 to 2026
Each column is the debt on the date of one row of the Treasury's table. Pointing at a column shows its year and debt. Every row, with its exact date, is under "The numbers behind the chart".
Select a line to followLatest:
Observed .
Right nowOurs
On the national debt was $40.17 trillion, $2.53 trillion more than on .
TrillionsOurs
The first year end at or above $1 trillion was , at $1.14 trillion.
The first year end at or above $10 trillion was , at $10.02 trillion.
The first year end at or above $20 trillion was , at $20.24 trillion.
The first year end at or above $30 trillion was , at $30.93 trillion.
The first year end at or above $40 trillion was , at $40.17 trillion.
Dates and changesOurs
The table has one row for each year the Treasury dates, not a row for each calendar year. The date follows the fiscal year of its time: New Year's Day until 1843, the start of July from 1843 (1843 has both), the end of June from 1921 and the end of September from 1977, a day or two earlier in a few years when the last day was not a business day. Rows before 1843 are the debt at the start of the year they are dated.
The changes of 1 July 1843 (181 days) and 30 September 1977 (457 days) do not cover a year.
The debt of each row is the Treasury's figure. The change since the row before and the trillion marks are our arithmetic on those rows, not figures the Treasury publishes.
A year end is a date in the table, not the day the debt reached a figure.
Understanding the national debt by year
Where it stands today
On 30 September 2026 the national debt was $40.17 trillion, the newest row of the table.
What does this table show?
The national debt is what the US government owes: money it borrowed, from the public and from its own accounts. The Treasury publishes the total for one date of each year, back to 1790.
Read more
The table starts at $71.06 million in 1790. For each row this page shows the date, the debt and the change since the row before, and it lists the first year end at or above each whole trillion dollars.
The debt is the total debt outstanding, as the Treasury reports it.
The numbers behind the chart
What was the debt on the date of each row?238 rows, newest first
| Date | Debt | Change since the row before (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| $40.2T | +$2.53T | |
| $37.6T | +$2.17T | |
| $35.5T | +$2.30T | |
| $33.2T | +$2.24T | |
| $30.9T | +$2.50T | |
| $28.4T | +$1.48T | |
| $26.9T | +$4.23T | |
| $22.7T | +$1.20T | |
| $21.5T | +$1.27T | |
| $20.2T | +$671B | |
| $19.6T | +$1.42T | |
| $18.2T | +$327B |
Show 226 more rows
| Date | Debt | Change since the row before (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| $17.8T | +$1.09T | |
| $16.7T | +$672B | |
| $16.1T | +$1.28T | |
| $14.8T | +$1.23T | |
| $13.6T | +$1.65T | |
| $11.9T | +$1.89T | |
| $10.0T | +$1.02T | |
| $9.01T | +$501B | |
| $8.51T | +$574B | |
| $7.93T | +$554B | |
| $7.38T | +$596B | |
| $6.78T | +$555B | |
| $6.23T | +$421B | |
| $5.81T | +$133B | |
| $5.67T | +$17.9B | |
| $5.66T | +$130B | |
| $5.53T | +$113B | |
| $5.41T | +$188B | |
| $5.22T | +$251B | |
| $4.97T | +$281B | |
| $4.69T | +$281B | |
| $4.41T | +$347B | |
| $4.06T | +$399B | |
| $3.67T | +$432B | |
| $3.23T | +$376B | |
| $2.86T | +$255B | |
| $2.60T | +$252B | |
| $2.35T | +$225B | |
| $2.13T | +$302B | |
| $1.82T | +$251B | |
| $1.57T | +$195B | |
| $1.38T | +$235B | |
| $1.14T | +$144B | |
| $998B | +$90.2B | |
| $908B | +$81.2B | |
| $827B | +$55.0B | |
| $772B | +$72.7B | |
| $699B | +$78.4B | |
| $620B | +$87.2B | |
| $533B | +$58.1B | |
| $475B | +$16.9B | |
| $458B | +$30.9B | |
| $427B | +$29.1B | |
| $398B | +$27.2B | |
| $371B | +$17.2B | |
| $354B | +$6.14B | |
| $348B | +$21.4B | |
| $326B | +$6.31B | |
| $320B | +$2.63B | |
| $317B | +$5.56B | |
| $312B | +$5.85B | |
| $306B | +$7.66B | |
| $298B | +$9.23B | |
| $289B | +$2.64B | |
| $286B | +$1.62B | |
| $285B | +$8.36B | |
| $276B | +$5.82B | |
| $271B | −$2.22B | |
| $273B | −$1.62B | |
| $274B | +$3.11B | |
| $271B | +$5.19B | |
| $266B | +$6.97B | |
| $259B | +$3.88B | |
| $255B | −$2.14B | |
| $257B | +$4.59B | |
| $253B | +$478M | |
| $252B | −$5.99B | |
| $258B | −$11.1B | |
| $269B | +$10.7B | |
| $259B | +$57.7B | |
| $201B | +$64.3B | |
| $137B | +$64.3B | |
| $72.4B | +$23.5B | |
| $49.0B | +$5.99B | |
| $43.0B | +$2.53B | |
| $40.4B | +$3.27B | |
| $37.2B | +$740M | |
| $36.4B | +$2.65B | |
| $33.8B | +$5.08B | |
| $28.7B | +$1.65B | |
| $27.1B | +$4.51B | |
| $22.5B | +$3.05B | |
| $19.5B | +$2.69B | |
| $16.8B | +$616M | |
| $16.2B | −$746M | |
| $16.9B | −$673M | |
| $17.6B | −$908M | |
| $18.5B | −$1.13B | |
| $19.6B | −$873M | |
| $20.5B | −$735M | |
| $21.3B | −$1.10B | |
| $22.3B | −$614M | |
| $23.0B | −$1.01B | |
| $24.0B | −$1.98B | |
| $26.0B | −$1.44B | |
| $27.4B | +$12.8B | |
| $14.6B | +$8.87B | |
| $5.72B | +$2.11B | |
| $3.61B | +$551M | |
| $3.06B | +$146M | |
| $2.91B | −$3.71M | |
| $2.92B | +$47.8M | |
| $2.87B | +$103M | |
| $2.77B | +$113M | |
| $2.65B | +$13.1M | |
| $2.64B | +$12.7M | |
| $2.63B | +$170M | |
| $2.46B | +$120M | |
| $2.34B | +$62.5M | |
| $2.27B | +$10.6M | |
| $2.26B | +$61.5M | |
| $2.20B | +$43.9M | |
| $2.16B | +$15.3M | |
| $2.14B | +$6.37M | |
| $2.14B | +$145M | |
| $1.99B | +$195M | |
| $1.80B | −$21.1M | |
| $1.82B | +$47.8M | |
| $1.77B | +$93.7M | |
| $1.68B | +$43.9M | |
| $1.63B | +$86.3M | |
| $1.55B | −$42.5M | |
| $1.59B | +$42.5M | |
| $1.55B | −$6.14M | |
| $1.55B | −$66.9M | |
| $1.62B | −$73.8M | |
| $1.69B | +$35.3M | |
| $1.66B | −$117M | |
| $1.78B | −$88.9M | |
| $1.86B | +$33.4M | |
| $1.83B | −$53.6M | |
| $1.88B | −$34.1M | |
| $1.92B | −$151M | |
| $2.07B | −$51.4M | |
| $2.12B | −$229M | |
| $2.35B | +$93.4M | |
| $2.26B | +$50.9M | |
| $2.21B | +$24.9M | |
| $2.18B | −$51.9M | |
| $2.23B | −$19.4M | |
| $2.25B | +$17.2M | |
| $2.23B | −$18.8M | |
| $2.25B | −$100.0M | |
| $2.35B | −$127M | |
| $2.48B | −$108M | |
| $2.59B | −$23.2M | |
| $2.61B | −$66.4M | |
| $2.68B | −$95.1M | |
| $2.77B | +$92.6M | |
| $2.68B | +$865M | |
| $1.82B | +$696M | |
| $1.12B | +$596M | |
| $524M | +$434M | |
| $90.6M | +$25.7M | |
| $64.8M | +$6.35M | |
| $58.5M | +$13.6M | |
| $44.9M | +$16.2M | |
| $28.7M | −$3.27M | |
| $32.0M | −$3.61M | |
| $35.6M | −$6.66M | |
| $42.2M | −$17.6M | |
| $59.8M | −$6.40M | |
| $66.2M | −$2.11M | |
| $68.3M | +$4.85M | |
| $63.5M | +$0.39M | |
| $63.1M | +$16.0M | |
| $47.0M | +$8.22M | |
| $38.8M | +$23.3M | |
| $15.6M | −$0.38M | |
| $15.9M | −$7.54M | |
| $23.5M | −$9.28M | |
| $32.7M | +$12.5M | |
| $20.2M | +$6.61M | |
| $13.6M | +$8.34M | |
| $5.25M | +$1.68M | |
| $3.57M | −$6.86M | |
| $10.4M | +$7.13M | |
| $3.31M | +$2.97M | |
| $0.34M | +$0.30M | |
| $0.04M | +$3,780 | |
| $0.03M | −$4.73M | |
| $4.76M | −$2.24M | |
| $7.00M | −$17.3M | |
| $24.3M | −$14.8M | |
| $39.1M | −$9.44M | |
| $48.6M | −$9.86M | |
| $58.4M | −$9.05M | |
| $67.5M | −$6.51M | |
| $74.0M | −$7.07M | |
| $81.1M | −$2.73M | |
| $83.8M | −$6.48M | |
| $90.3M | −$0.61M | |
| $90.9M | −$2.67M | |
| $93.5M | +$3.56M | |
| $90.0M | −$1.03M | |
| $91.0M | −$4.51M | |
| $95.5M | −$7.94M | |
| $103M | −$20.0M | |
| $123M | −$3.84M | |
| $127M | +$27.5M | |
| $99.8M | +$18.3M | |
| $81.5M | +$25.5M | |
| $56.0M | +$10.8M | |
| $45.2M | −$2.80M | |
| $48.0M | −$5.17M | |
| $53.2M | −$3.85M | |
| $57.0M | −$8.17M | |
| $65.2M | −$4.02M | |
| $69.2M | −$6.50M | |
| $75.7M | −$6.59M | |
| $82.3M | −$4.11M | |
| $86.4M | +$9.37M | |
| $77.1M | −$3.66M | |
| $80.7M | −$2.33M | |
| $83.0M | +$0.06M | |
| $83.0M | +$4.57M | |
| $78.4M | −$0.82M | |
| $79.2M | −$2.84M | |
| $82.1M | −$1.70M | |
| $83.8M | +$3.01M | |
| $80.7M | +$2.32M | |
| $78.4M | −$1.93M | |
| $80.4M | +$3.13M | |
| $77.2M | +$1.76M | |
| $75.5M | +$4.40M | |
| $71.1M | None |
When was each trillion first reached at a year end?40 trillions
| Trillions | First year end at or above it (ours) | Debt then |
|---|---|---|
| $1 trillion | $1.14T | |
| $2 trillion | $2.13T | |
| $3 trillion | $3.23T | |
| $4 trillion | $4.06T | |
| $5 trillion | $5.22T | |
| $6 trillion | $6.23T | |
| $7 trillion | $7.38T | |
| $8 trillion | $8.51T | |
| $9 trillion | $9.01T | |
| $10 trillion | $10.0T | |
| $11 trillion | $11.9T | |
| $12 trillion | $13.6T |
Show 28 more rows
| Trillions | First year end at or above it (ours) | Debt then |
|---|---|---|
| $13 trillion | $13.6T | |
| $14 trillion | $14.8T | |
| $15 trillion | $16.1T | |
| $16 trillion | $16.1T | |
| $17 trillion | $17.8T | |
| $18 trillion | $18.2T | |
| $19 trillion | $19.6T | |
| $20 trillion | $20.2T | |
| $21 trillion | $21.5T | |
| $22 trillion | $22.7T | |
| $23 trillion | $26.9T | |
| $24 trillion | $26.9T | |
| $25 trillion | $26.9T | |
| $26 trillion | $26.9T | |
| $27 trillion | $28.4T | |
| $28 trillion | $28.4T | |
| $29 trillion | $30.9T | |
| $30 trillion | $30.9T | |
| $31 trillion | $33.2T | |
| $32 trillion | $33.2T | |
| $33 trillion | $33.2T | |
| $34 trillion | $35.5T | |
| $35 trillion | $35.5T | |
| $36 trillion | $37.6T | |
| $37 trillion | $37.6T | |
| $38 trillion | $40.2T | |
| $39 trillion | $40.2T | |
| $40 trillion | $40.2T |
What does this table leave out, and where is it from?Limits and source
What this number cannot tell you
- The table has one row for each year the Treasury dates, not a row for each calendar year. The date follows the fiscal year of its time: New Year's Day until 1843, the start of July from 1843 (1843 has both), the end of June from 1921 and the end of September from 1977, a day or two earlier in a few years when the last day was not a business day. Rows before 1843 are the debt at the start of the year they are dated.
- The changes of 1 July 1843 (181 days) and 30 September 1977 (457 days) do not cover a year. A change is the debt of the row less the debt of the row before, over the days between their dates.
- The debt is the Treasury's total, held by the public and by US government accounts. The Treasury gives it to the cent; this page holds a row to the whole dollar and works a change out from those dollars. The table prints the debt and the change to three figures, so a change worked from the printed figures can differ a little from the one shown.
- The change since the row before and the first year end at or above each trillion are our arithmetic on the Treasury's rows. The Fiscal Service does not publish them.
- A row is the debt on one day. The day the debt reached a trillion is not in the table: the first year end at or above a trillion is the first row at or above it, and the debt may have reached it months before the date shown.
- The figures are in dollars of their own year. They are not adjusted for prices, the size of the economy or the number of people.
- The Treasury can revise a figure after it is published. This page shows the table as the Treasury gives it when the page is built.
Observed .
Page updated