Graph and download economic data for Federal Debt: Total Public Debt (GFDEBTN) from Q1 1966 to Q2 2025 about public, debt, federal, government, and USA.

Summarizes the U.S. government's total outstanding debt at the end of each fiscal year from 1789 to the current year.

Government Debt in the United States increased to 38040094 USD Million in October from 37637553 USD Million in September of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Government Debt- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Total outstanding debt of the U.S. government reported daily. Includes a breakout of intragovernmental holdings (federal debt held by U.S. government) and debt held by the public (federal debt held by entities outside the U.S. government).

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DAY ~11,000 (April 1st, 1993 to Present-Day)

This is a dataset that tracks several figures regarding US debt (to the penny) since 1993.

All data are official figures from the U.S. Treasury that have been compiled and structured by myself. Dates on the weekend (Saturday and Sunday), as well as federal holidays, are excluded from the debt tracker because the Treasury's fiscal data do not account for those days. Recent political debates in the US over the potential raising of the debt ceiling has inspired me to create this dataset. Personally, I believe that the issue will continue to dominate political discourse due to the increasing polarization between Democrats and Republicans.

Data Sources

The primary data source used was the U.S. Treasury's official website, which publishes fiscal data pertaining to the American government. Considering the meticulous documentation of federal spending by the Treasury, no other authority is more equipped to provide insight on US debt.

1. U.S. Treasury's FiscalData Website - The United States Department of the Treasury published daily updates on the national debt since April 1st, 1993. However, intragovernmental holdings and total public debt outstanding have only been accounted for at the end of each fiscal year since 1997. Daily updates for those two statistics officially began since March 31st, 2005.
2. U.S. Treasury's Finance Guide to the National Debt - The United States Department of the Treasury released a detailed overview of the national debt and how it operates in conjunction with American society. The guide mainly provided essential contextual knowledge needed to create a meaningful dataset.

Statistics Being Tracked

• Debt Held by the Public
• Intragovernmental Holdings
• Total Public Debt Outstanding

Dataset History

2023-02-17 - Dataset is created (10,914 days after temporal coverage start date).

GitHub Repository - The same data but on GitHub.

Code Starter

Link to Notebook Important: Each new record is accumulated data from previous days.

The United States recorded a Government Debt to GDP of 124.30 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2024. This dataset provides - United States Government Debt To GDP - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

U.S. Public Debt vs. GDP

Trends and Comparisons

By Charlie Hutcheson [source]

About this dataset

This dataset contains quarterly data on the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Total Public Debt from 1947 through 2020. It provides a comprehensive view into the development of debt versus GDP over the years, offering insights into how our economy has grown and changed since The Great Depression. Explore this valuable information to answer questions such as: How do debt and GDP relate to one another? Has US government spending been outpacing wealth throughout history? From what sources does our national debt originate? This dataset can be utilized by economists, governments, researchers, investors, financial institutions, journalists — anyone looking to gain a better understanding of where our economy stands today compared to past decades

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How to use the dataset

This dataset, U.S. GDP vs Debt Over Time, contains quarterly data on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Total Public Debt of the United States between 1947 to 2020. This can be useful for conducting research into how the total public debt relates to economic growth in the US.

The dataset includes 4 columns: Quarter , Gross Domestic Product ($mil), Total Public Debt ($mil). The Quarter column consists of strings that represent each quarter from 1947-2020 with a corresponding number (e.g., “Q1-1947”). The Gross Domestic Product ($mil) and Total Public Debt ($mil) columns consist of numbers that indicate the respective amounts in millions for each quarter during this same time period.

By analyzing this dataset you can explore various trends over different periods as it relates to public debt versus economic growth in America and make informed decisions about how certain policies may affect future outcomes. Additionally, you could also compare these two values with other variables such as unemployment rate or inflation rate to gain deeper insights into America’s economy over time

Research Ideas

• Comparing the quarterly growth in GDP with public debt to show the correlation between economic growth and government spending.
• Creating a bar or line visualization that compares the US’s total public debt to comparable economic powers like China, Japan, and Europe over time.
• Examining how changes in government deficit have contributed towards an increase in public debt by analyzing which quarters saw significant leaps of growth from one year to the next

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit the original authors. Data Source

License

License: Dataset copyright by authors - You are free to: - Share - copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially. - Adapt - remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. - You must: - Give appropriate credit - Provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. - ShareAlike - You must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. - Keep intact - all notices that refer to this license, including copyright notices.

Columns

File: US GDP vs Debt.csv | Column name | Description | |:----------------------------------|:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Quarter | The quarter of the year in which the data was collected. (String) | | Gross Domestic Product ($mil) | The total value of all goods and services produced by the US in a given quarter. (Integer) | | Total Public Debt ($mil) | The total amount owed by the federal government. (Integer) |

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit the original authors. If you use this dataset in your research, please credit Charlie Hutcheson.

High-level information on the federal government's outstanding debts, holdings, and the statutory debt limit. Data is reported monthly.

A table that summarizes the amounts outstanding for the securities issued by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service adjusted for Unamortized Discount on Treasury Bills and Zero Coupon Treasury Bonds, Other Debt (old debt issued before 1917 and old currency called United States Notes), Debt held by the Federal Financing Bank and Guaranteed Debt of Government Agencies that makes up the Total Public Debt Subject to Limit amount.

The Debt to the Penny dataset provides information about the total outstanding public debt and is reported each day. Debt to the Penny is made up of intragovernmental holdings and debt held by the public, including securities issued by the U.S. Treasury. Total public debt outstanding is composed of Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), Floating Rate Notes (FRNs), and Federal Financing Bank (FFB) securities, as well as Domestic Series, Foreign Series, State and Local Government Series (SLGS), U.S. Savings Securities, and Government Account Series (GAS) securities. Debt to the Penny is updated at 3:00 PM EST each business day with data from the previous business day.

Households Debt in the United States decreased to 68.30 percent of GDP in the first quarter of 2025 from 69.40 percent of GDP in the fourth quarter of 2024. This dataset provides - United States Households Debt To Gdp- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

This dataset contains quarterly data on the public debt in the United States, starting from 1996 and running up to 2023. Public debt, also known as government debt, represents the total outstanding debt (bonds and other securities) of a country’s central government. Public debt as a percentage of GDP is often used by investors to measure a country's ability to make future payments on its debt, thus affecting the country's borrowing costs and government bond yields.

Content: The dataset comprises two columns:

Date: The end date of the respective quarter (MM/DD/YYYY format). Value: The total US public debt at the end of the respective quarter (in billions of USD). Acknowledgements: Data for this set is sourced from the US Department of the Treasury.

Inspiration: The US Public Debt is a critical economic indicator. Analysis of this data can offer insights into the fiscal health of the US government, its fiscal policy, and its ability to meet future obligations.

This dataset could be of interest to economists, financial analysts, data scientists, students, and anyone interested in the US economy or government finance.

Usability: The Public Debt data can be used for a variety of purposes:

Economic Analysis: It can be used for macroeconomic analysis and forecasting.

Government Finance Analysis: It can serve as a key indicator of the fiscal health of the US government.

Investment Analysis: Public debt levels can impact interest rates, inflation, and financial markets. Analysts can use this data to better understand these dynamics.

Policy Understanding: It can help understand the fiscal policy of the US government.

Education: It can be used in classrooms for teaching economics, finance, and related disciplines.

this graph was created in fred.stlouisfed, Canva, R :

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Your Guide to America's Finances is an overview of U.S. government finances where you’ll find information on money coming in (revenue), money going out (spending), the deficit, and debt. Your Guide presents a series of pages exploring each topic through educational content and interactive visualizations, providing a comprehensive overview of the trillions of dollars collected and spent by the federal government each year. Where does federal revenue come from? If you lived or worked in the United States in 2024, your tax contributions are likely part of the $4.92 trillion collected in revenue. The federal government also collects revenue from services like admission to national parks and customs duties on foreign imports and exports. The majority of this revenue is used to pay for government activities (employee salaries, infrastructure maintenance), as well as to pay for goods and services provided to United States citizens and businesses.

In FY 2024, the federal government spent $6.75 trillion. Since the government spent more than it collected, the deficit for 2024 was $1.83 trillion. Visit our Spending and Deficit pages for more information on these activities.

Private Debt to GDP in the United States decreased to 142 percent in 2024 from 147.50 percent in 2023. United States Private Debt to GDP - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on December of 2025.

The Monthly Statement of the Public Debt (MSPD) details the Treasury's outstanding debts and the statutory debt limit. Debt is categorized by whether it is marketable or non-marketable and whether it is debt held by the public or debt held by government agencies. All amounts are reported in millions of U.S. dollars. Data is published on the fourth business day of each month, detailing the debt as of the end of the previous month.

External Debt in the United States increased to 28604291 USD Million in the second quarter of 2025 from 28097015 USD Million in the first quarter of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Net International Investment Position - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

A table that shows the historical breakdown of the Debt Held by the Public, Intragovernmental Holdings and the Total Public Debt Outstanding.

A table that shows in detail by CUSIP, the interest rate, the STRIP CUSIP, maturity date, and amounts outstanding for securities held in unstripped form, stripped form and amount that have been reconstituted. STRIP stands for Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities. This is a security that has been stripped down into separate securities representing the principal and each interest payment. Each payment has its own identification number and can be traded individually. These securities are also known as zero-coupon bonds.

This data set contains debt outstanding for local government Issuers, including cities, community college districts, counties, hospital districts, independent school districts, other special districts and water districts. Not included are obligations of less than one-year maturity and special obligations not requiring Attorney General approval. Excludes commercial paper and Build America Bond subsidies. Excludes conduit debt. Data includes tax rate, taxable values, pledge, population, total principal, total interest and total debt service.

This dataset has various calculations of debt burden. The data is represented as percentages and will be updated twice per year in the Preliminary and Executive Budgets.