Graph and download economic data for Federal government current expenditures: Interest payments (A091RC1Q027SBEA) from Q1 1947 to Q4 2024 about payments, expenditures, federal, government, interest, GDP, and USA.

In 2023, the U.S. government spent a total of 875 billion U.S. dollars on interest of public debt. 497 billion U.S. dollars was on interest for debt held by the public.

The national debt of the United Stated can be found here.

United States US: Expenditure: Interest Payments data was reported at 475.117 USD bn in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 438.441 USD bn for 2015. United States US: Expenditure: Interest Payments data is updated yearly, averaging 218.950 USD bn from Sep 1972 (Median) to 2016, with 45 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 475.117 USD bn in 2016 and a record low of 14.820 USD bn in 1972. United States US: Expenditure: Interest Payments data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Government Revenue, Expenditure and Finance. Interest payments include interest payments on government debt--including long-term bonds, long-term loans, and other debt instruments--to domestic and foreign residents.; ; International Monetary Fund, Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files.; ;

Graph and download economic data for Federal Outlays: Interest as Percent of Gross Domestic Product (FYOIGDA188S) from 1940 to 2024 about outlays, federal, percent, interest, GDP, and USA.

United States US: Expenditure: Interest Payments: % of Revenue data was reported at 13.642 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 12.630 % for 2015. United States US: Expenditure: Interest Payments: % of Revenue data is updated yearly, averaging 15.112 % from Sep 1972 (Median) to 2016, with 45 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 19.229 % in 1985 and a record low of 6.428 % in 1973. United States US: Expenditure: Interest Payments: % of Revenue data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Government Revenue, Expenditure and Finance. Interest payments include interest payments on government debt--including long-term bonds, long-term loans, and other debt instruments--to domestic and foreign residents.; ; International Monetary Fund, Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files.; Median;

As of October 2024, the United States government has a monthly interest rate of 3.3 percent on its debt, continuing an upward trend in interest rates that began at the beginning of 2022. In April 2024, U.S. debt reached 34.62 trillion U.S. dollars.

The Interest Expense on Debt Outstanding dataset provides monthly and fiscal year-to-date values for interest expenses on federal government debt, that is, the cost to the U.S. for borrowing money (calculated at a specified rate and period of time). U.S. debt includes Treasury notes and bonds, foreign and domestic series certificates of indebtedness, savings bonds, Government Account Series (GAS), State and Local Government Series (SLGS) and other special purpose securities. While interest expenses are what the government pays to investors who loan money to the government, how much the government pays in interest depends on both the total federal debt and the interest rate investors charged when they loaned the money. This dataset is useful for those who wish to track the cost of maintaining federal debt.

United States - Federal government current expenditures: Interest payments was 1124.40400 Bil. of $ in October of 2024, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Federal government current expenditures: Interest payments reached a record high of 1124.40400 in October of 2024 and a record low of 5.35200 in January of 1947. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Federal government current expenditures: Interest payments - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on March of 2025.

In September 2023, the national debt of the United States had risen up to 33.17 trillion U.S. dollars. The national debt per capita had risen to 85,552 U.S. dollars in 2021. As represented by the statistic above, the public debt of the United States has been continuously rising.

U.S. public debt Public debt, also known as national and governmental debt, is the debt owed by a nations’ central government. In the case of the U.S., national debt is owed by the federal government to Treasury security holders. Generally speaking, government debt increases with government spending, and can be decreased through taxes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government increased spending significantly to finance virus infrastructure, aid, and various forms of economic relief.

International public debt

Venezuela leads the global ranking of the 20 countries with the highest public debt in 2021. In relation to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Venezuela's public debt amounted to around 306.95 percent of GDP. Eritrea was ranked fifth, with an estimated debt of 170 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.

The national debt of the United Kingdom is forecasted to grow from 87 percent in 2022 to 70 percent in 2027, in relation to the Gross Domestic Product. These figures include England, Wales, Scotland as well as Northern Ireland.

Greece had the highest national debt among EU countries as of the 4th quarter of 2020 in relation to the Gross Domestic Product. Germany ranked 13th in the EU, with its national debt amounting to 69 percent of GDP in the same time period.

Tuvalu was one of the 20 countries with the lowest national debt in 2021 in relation to the GDP, while Macao had an estimated level of national debt of zero percent, the lowest of any country. The data refer to the debts of the entire state, including the central government, the provinces, municipalities, local authorities and social insurance.

Graph and download economic data for State and local government current expenditures: Interest payments: to persons and business (NA000312Q) from Q1 1947 to Q3 2024 about state & local, payments, expenditures, business, government, personal, interest, GDP, and USA.

United States Federal Debt: Public Debt Securities: Interest Expenses data was reported at 31.648 USD bn in Oct 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 28.981 USD bn for Sep 2018. United States Federal Debt: Public Debt Securities: Interest Expenses data is updated monthly, averaging 22.310 USD bn from Oct 1997 (Median) to Oct 2018, with 253 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 110.973 USD bn in Jun 2008 and a record low of -52.817 USD bn in Jul 2012. United States Federal Debt: Public Debt Securities: Interest Expenses data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bureau of the Fiscal Service. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.F004: Federal Debt. A onetime adjustment of $75 USD BN decreased the interest expense on public debt data for the month of July 2012 causing the value to be negative. Adjustment was made due to the change in the accounting method for the Department of Defense (DOD) market based securities.

United States - Federal government current expenditures: Interest payments: to persons and business was 411.89500 Bil. of $ in January of 2020, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Federal government current expenditures: Interest payments: to persons and business reached a record high of 438.05600 in January of 2019 and a record low of 13.54600 in January of 1960. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Federal government current expenditures: Interest payments: to persons and business - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on March of 2025.

United States - State and local government current expenditures: Interest payments: to persons and business was 256.84500 Bil. of $ in July of 2024, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - State and local government current expenditures: Interest payments: to persons and business reached a record high of 305.10500 in July of 2019 and a record low of 0.85000 in January of 1947. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - State and local government current expenditures: Interest payments: to persons and business - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on March of 2025.

For the fiscal year of 2025, mandatory government spending is predicted to sum up to about 4.37 trillion U.S. dollars. It consists primarily of benefit programs such as: social security, Medicare, Medicaid, as well as other programs. Discretionary spending consists of spending controlled by lawmakers through annual appropriation acts. In FY 2025 it is proposed at 1.93 trillion U.S. dollars, and is divided into defense and nondefense spending. Spending for net interest is also listed, which consists of the government's interest payments on debt held by the public, offset by interest income the government receives.

United States US: Expenditure: Interest Payments: % of Expenditure data was reported at 11.222 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 10.669 % for 2015. United States US: Expenditure: Interest Payments: % of Expenditure data is updated yearly, averaging 12.862 % from Sep 1972 (Median) to 2016, with 45 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 16.046 % in 2001 and a record low of 6.147 % in 1973. United States US: Expenditure: Interest Payments: % of Expenditure data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Government Revenue, Expenditure and Finance. Interest payments include interest payments on government debt--including long-term bonds, long-term loans, and other debt instruments--to domestic and foreign residents.; ; International Monetary Fund, Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files.; Median;

United States Florida: Expenditure: Direct: Interest on Debt data was reported at 5,066,438.000 USD th in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 5,587,870.000 USD th for 2015. United States Florida: Expenditure: Direct: Interest on Debt data is updated yearly, averaging 2,607,675.000 USD th from Jun 1957 (Median) to 2016, with 55 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6,058,212.000 USD th in 2012 and a record low of 36,028.000 USD th in 1957. United States Florida: Expenditure: Direct: Interest on Debt data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by US Census Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.F018: Revenue & Expenditure: State and Local Government: Florida.

United States - Government current expenditures: Interest payments: to persons and business was 703.21100 Bil. of $ in January of 2020, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Government current expenditures: Interest payments: to persons and business reached a record high of 740.53600 in January of 2019 and a record low of 17.12100 in January of 1960. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Government current expenditures: Interest payments: to persons and business - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on March of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Federal government current expenditures: Interest payments: to persons and business (B092RC1Q027SBEA) from Q1 1960 to Q3 2024 about payments, expenditures, federal, business, government, interest, GDP, and USA.

As of December 2024, Japan held United States treasury securities totaling about 1.06 trillion U.S. dollars. Foreign holders of United States treasury debt According to the Federal Reserve and U.S. Department of the Treasury, foreign countries held a total of 8.5 trillion U.S. dollars in U.S. treasury securities as of December 2024. Of the total held by foreign countries, Japan and Mainland China held the greatest portions, with China holding 759 billion U.S. dollars in U.S. securities. The U.S. public debt In 2023, the United States had a total public national debt of 33.2 trillion U.S. dollars, an amount that has been rising steadily, particularly since 2008. In 2023, the total interest expense on debt held by the public of the United States reached 678 billion U.S. dollars, while 197 billion U.S. dollars in interest expense were intra governmental debt holdings. Total outlays of the U.S. government were 6.1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. By 2029, spending is projected to reach 8.3 trillion U.S. dollars.

By 2034, the gross federal debt of the United States is projected to be about 54.39 trillion U.S. dollars. This would be an increase of around 21 trillion U.S. dollars from 2023, when the federal debt was around 33 trillion U.S. dollars.

The federal debt of the U.S.

The federal debt, also called the national debt or public debt, is the amount of debt held by the United States government. This debt may be to other countries, or to different departments within the government itself. The public debt of the United States has increased significantly over the past 30 years, as it was around 3.2 trillion U.S. dollars in 1990 and surpassed 30 trillion dollars for the first time in 2022. When broken down per capita, the national debt amounted to about 80,885 U.S. dollars of debt per person in the United States in 2021.

The problem of the federal debt

Over the past decade, the federal debt limit in the United States has increased significantly. The U.S. debt ceiling can only be changed by an act of Congress which is then signed by the president. The raising of the ceiling has become a recurring political issue in recent years, especially during times when the Presidency and chambers of Congress are controlled by different parties.

The debt ceiling is a tool that allows the Treasury to issue bonds without congressional approval, allowing for efficiency in the way that the government pays for programs and services. It is thought to be further valuable in that it keeps federal finances in check. However, when the two parties are unable to come to an agreement on raising the debt ceiling, the government comes to a shutdown because they can no longer fund themselves. The Republican Party in particular often positions itself against raising the federal debt ceiling, characterizing themselves as the party of fiscal conservativism. However, analyses have shown that both parties have contributed to the country's debt in almost equal measures.