Adding to national debt is an inevitable fact of being President of the United States. The extent to which debt rises under any sitting president depends not only on the policy and spending choices they have made, but also the choices made by presidents and congresses that have come before them.

Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush President Ronald Reagan increased the U.S. debt by around 1.86 trillion U.S. dollars, or 186.36 percent. This is often attributed to "Reaganomics," in which Reagan implemented significant supply-side economic policies in which he reduced government regulation, cut taxes, and tightened the money supply. Spending increased under President George W. Bush in light of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. To finance the wars, President Bush chose to borrow the money, rather than use war bonds or increase taxes, unlike previous war-time presidents. Additionally, Bush introduced a number of tax cuts, and oversaw the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis. Barack Obama President Obama inherited both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the financial crisis. The Obama administration also did not increase taxes to pay for the wars, and additionally passed expensive legislation to kickstart the economy following the economic crash, as well as the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The ACA expanded healthcare coverage to cover more than 30 million more Americans through programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Though controversial at the time, more than half of Americans have a favorable view of the ACA in 2023. Additionally, he signed legislation making the W. Bush-era tax cuts permanent.

In 2023, the U.S. government had a budget deficit of 1.69 trillion U.S. dollars. This is compared to 2000, when the government had a budget surplus of 0.24 trillion U.S. dollars.

U.S. Government budget

The government budget is a financial statement that demonstrates the government’s suggested revenues and spending for the financial year. Budget surpluses occur when income exceeds expenditures. Budget deficits occur when spending exceeds income. The budget balance of the U.S. government has fluctuated since 2016, and is expected to decrease slightly by 2026.

Military spending

Defense outlays in the United States amounted to 714 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. It is expected to continue to increase over the next several years. The United States currently has the largest defense budget in the world, and is the largest employer in the world. The military budget funds the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. The amount of funding that goes towards the Department of Defense is heavily criticized by Democrats in the United States, because they believe that the funding should be more evenly distributed towards other social welfare programs such as public health insurance and education.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Surplus or Deficit [-] as Percent of Gross Domestic Product (FYFSGDA188S) from 1929 to 2024 about budget, federal, GDP, and USA.

The United States recorded a Government Debt to GDP of 122.30 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2023. This dataset provides - United States Government Debt To GDP - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Surplus or Deficit - from 1901 to 2024 about budget, federal, and USA.

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.

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.

In October 2024, the public debt of the United States was around 35.46 trillion U.S. dollars, a slight decrease from the previous month. The U.S. public debt ceiling has become one of the most prominent political issues in the States in recent years, with debate over how to handle it causing political turmoil between Democrats and Republicans. The public debt The public debt of the United States has risen quickly since 2000, and in 2022 was more than five times higher than in 2000. The public debt is the total outstanding debt that is owed by the federal government. This figure comprises debt owed to the public (for example, through bonds) and intergovernmental debt (debt owed to various governmental departments), such as Social Security. Debt in Politics The debt issue has become a highly contentious topic within the U.S. government. Measures such as stimulus packages, social programs and tax cuts add to the public debt. Additionally, spending tends to peak during large global events, such as the Great Depression, the 2008 financial crisis, or the COVID-19 pandemic - all of which had a detrimental impact on the U.S. economy. Although both major political parties in the U.S. tend to blame one another for increases in the country's debt, a recent analysis found that both parties have contributed almost equally to national expenditure. Debate on raising the debt ceiling, or the amount of debt the federal government is allowed to have at any one time, was a leading topic in the government shutdown in October 2013. Despite plans from both Democrats and Republicans on how to lower the national debt, it is only expected to increase over the next decade.

The United States federal government budget has allotted around 75 billion dollars toward its 2025 civilian federal agency information technology budget. As leadership and government priorities change, the IT budgets allocated to different departments tend to follow suit. The Department of Energy's IT budget increased significantly by 37 percent compared to the previous year, with 5.5 billion U.S. dollars allocated in FY 2025. Similarly, the IT budget of the Department of Homeland security also increased by 23 percent compared to the previous year, to around 11 billion U.S. dollars for FY 2025. Meanwhile, the Office of Personnel Management saw its IT budget shrink the most among the civilian federal government agencies, decreasing by a staggering 64 percent compared to FY 2024. Since the 2022 federal budget, figures do not include the portion of the budget allocated to the Department of Defense or other classified IT spending. U.S. government budget In the United States, huge shares of government expenditures go towards the Department of Health and Human Services as well as the Social Security Administration. Due in part to the country’s continually increasing budget, the government has run at an annual deficit since 2002, with its 2024 deficit estimated to over be around 1.9 trillion dollars. Cybersecurity budget One of the main facets of the U.S. government IT budget is spending related to cybersecurity. Over 12 billion U.S. dollars have been allocated towards cybersecurity in 2024. The Departments of Homeland Security and Justice have unsurprisingly had the highest cybersecurity budgets across all departments, given the sensitive nature of their work.

This poll, fielded July 24-28, 2009, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling the presidency and issues such as foreign policy and health care. Opinions were solicited about the most important problem facing the country, whether the country was moving in the right direction, the condition of the national economy, and the Republican and Democratic parties. Respondents were asked about the federal government's stimulus package, including its effect on the creation of new jobs, the federal budget deficit, and the national and local economy. A series of questions addressed the health care system in the United States, whether respondents thought they would benefit from the health care legislation under consideration in Congress, the effects of this legislation on the federal budget deficit and the economy, and the likelihood that a health care reform bill would be signed into law by the end of the year. Views were sought on specific health care reform proposals, such as taxing employer-paid health insurance benefits, raising taxes on Americans with high incomes, and requiring health insurance companies to provide coverage regardless of pre-existing medical conditions. Respondents were also polled on whether they believed it was the federal government's responsibility to guarantee health insurance for all Americans and the possible effects of a government-created universal health care system on the quality of health care, health care costs, taxes, jobs, and the number of uninsured Americans. Information was collected on the financial situation of the respondent's household, whether they had health insurance coverage, the source of their insurance coverage, and the affordability of basic medical care under their health insurance plan. Additional topics addressed police treatment of minorities, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and whether women should be allowed to participate in military combat and serve in combat zones. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, marital status, household income, employment status, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status and participation history, religious preference, the presence of adults between the ages of 18 and 29 in the household, whether respondents had a child under the age of 18 years, and whether they considered themselves to be a born-again Christian.

The statistic shows the national debt of France from 2019 to 2022, with projections up until 2029. In 2022, the national debt of France amounted to around 3.19 trillion U.S. dollars. For comparison, the Greek debt amounted to approximately 392.27 billion euros that same year. French national debt and developments in taxationFrance currently has one of the highest national debt levels of any of the world’s nations. Debt in the European Union’s second-largest economy is currently at around 97 percent of GDP. The cost of interest on the country’s debt alone comes in at over 1,600 euros per second; every man, woman, and child in France, of which there are 65.3 million in total, takes a share of just under 28 thousand euros of the debt.On 6th May 2012, the incumbent French President was defeated by François Hollande, leader of the French Socialist Party. The new President vowed to develop and change the tax system of France, announcing wide-ranging economic policies in a bid to balance the nation’s budget and right what he considered to be social wrongs. He pledged and supported the separation of lending and investment banks, as well as proposing sweeping changes to the French tax system. The introduction of the measure of capping tax loopholes at a maximum of ten thousand euros per year and questioning the solidarity tax on wealth, the annual direct wealth tax on those with assets above 1.3 million, were also part of Hollande’s proposals. The President has also signaled his intention to implement an income tax rate of 75 percent on revenue earned above one million euros per year. He stated the allocation of the revenue from this tax would be used to develop the deprived suburbs and to balance the nation's budget by 2017. France is a country brimming with big business and millionaires. The nation is home to the most millionaires in Europe; 2.6 million in total.

This poll, fielded October 27-29, 1996, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked to give their opinions of President Bill Clinton and his handling of the presidency. Those polled rated the condition of the national economy and gave their opinions of Vice President Al Gore, First Lady Hillary Clinton, the United States Congress, and the presidential and vice presidential candidates in the upcoming election. Opinions were elicited on the 1996 presidential and congressional elections, the likelihood that respondents would vote, for whom they would vote, what issue the next administration should focus on, and whether America was ready to elect a Black or female president. Views were also sought on the presidential campaign, including campaign spending, length of the campaign season, and media coverage, as well as respondents' preferred voting methods and their voter registration history. Several questions asked about the Whitewater inquiry, foreign campaign contributions accepted by the Democratic Party, and how the next administration should handle issues such as education and crime. Others topics addressed feelings about the federal government, the federal budget deficit, taxes, Social Security, holiday spending, crime in the respondent's community, and whether the United States had a responsibility to provide military assistance around the world. Information was also collected on whether respondents had contacted their member of Congress in the past two years, whether they had lived in the same community for the past two years, and how often they watched comedians on late-night television. Demographic variables include sex, race, age, household income, education level, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter participation history and registration status, and type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural).

This poll, fielded April 22-25, 2010 is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked to give their opinions of President Barack Obama and his handling of the presidency, the federal budget deficit, health care, the situation in Afghanistan, regulation in the financial industry, nuclear weapons policy, the economy, and whether the Obama Administration or the Republicans in Congress could be trusted to do a better job handling these issues. Respondents were also asked their opinions on whether the Bush Administration or the Obama Administration were to blame for the current economic situation and federal budget deficit. Respondents were asked whether they supported or opposed stricter federal regulations on the way banks, other financial institutions, and Wall Street firms conducted their businesses, having the federal government regulate derivatives, and increasing federal oversight of the way banks and other financial companies make consumer loans. Opinions were collected on whether factors such as gender, sexuality, religious beliefs, race and professional experience would be in favor or against a Supreme Court nominee, whether respondents supported the Tea Party political movement, and whether the Tea Party, Democratic Party, or the Republican Party best represented their personal values, the needs of people like them, and best understood the economic problems of people in the country. Respondents were also asked whether they believed the support for the Tea Party movement was based on concern, dissatisfaction with the Republican Party, opposition to Obama and the Democratic Party's policies, based on distrust of government, or racial prejudice against Obama. Other topics covered included the national economy, the war in Afghanistan, the Supreme Court case Roe versus Wade, voter behavior for the United States House of Representatives election, and opinions of President Obama's birth place. Several questions addressed federal spending, the respondent's personal economic situation, and opinions on the war in Afghanistan. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, political philosophy, party affiliation, education level, religious preference, household income, and whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again Christian.

Key information about Mexico National Government Debt

• Mexico National Government Debt reached 896.3 USD bn in Jan 2025, compared with 874.8 USD bn in the previous month.
• Mexico National Government Debt data is updated monthly, available from Dec 2005 to Jan 2025.
• The data reached an all-time high of 961.9 USD bn in May 2024 and a record low of 197.7 USD bn in Dec 2005.

CEIC calculates monthly Government Debt as the sum of External Debt and Domestic Debt and converts it into USD. The Secretary of Finance and Public Credit provides External Debt in USD and Domestic Debt in local currency. The Federal Reserve Board period end market exchange rate is used for currency conversions. Government Debt covers Central Government only.


Related information about Mexico National Government Debt

• In the latest reports, Mexico Consolidated Fiscal Balance recorded a deficit equal to 4.2 % of its Nominal GDP in Sep 2024.
• The country's Government debt accounted for 47.7 % of its Nominal GDP in Sep 2024.
• Mexico Nominal GDP reached 397.5 USD bn in Mar 2023.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Debt Held by the Public (FYGFDPUN) from Q1 1970 to Q4 2024 about public, debt, federal, and USA.

The U.S. goods trade deficit with China increased by nearly 20 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, as China still had the biggest impact on U.S. bilateral trade. This is according to seasonally adjusted trade date from within the United States. Following the results of the U.S. elections in 2024, discussions surfaced on the potential of tariffs for countries that have a large trade surplus with the United States. The president-elect stated that trade tariffs of 60 percent and 25 percent might be implemented for goods from China or Mexico, respectively. The effects of such measures on the forecast GDP growth across the world were not yet clear. In Europe, however, Germany might be the most affected economy when the U.S. does implement tariffs.

This survey focuses on the economyAdditional variables include rating of President Reagan and his economic program, comparison of Reagan with last nine presidents, federal deficit, increase defense spending, cuts in federal spending, hand guns, prayer in schools, affirmative action programs, abortion, air and water pollution, social security, and school busing

This dataverse contains the data and supporting documents for the CCES 2014 University of Texas at Dallas. This project was supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant Number SES-1430505.

As part of an ongoing data collection effort, CBS News and The New York Times conducted a series of interviews. The substantive common denominator in the surveys was a continuing evaluation of the Reagan presidency. Each survey also raised questions of topical relevance and/or broader social concern, including the following: Part 1: Government figures and race relations in New York City. Part 2: The space program, 1988 presidential candidates, the Iran-Contra matter, economic problems, and the Strategic Defense Initiative. Part 3: The Tower Commission Report and the Iran-Contra matter. Part 4: Ronald Reagan's speech of March 4, 1987 and the Iran-Contra matter. Part 5: Television evangelists, focusing on the PTL and Jim Bakker. Parts 6 and 7: Israeli involvement in the Jonathan Pollard spy case and the Iranian arms sale, and relations between the United States and Israel. Part 8: The Iran-Contra matter and 1988 presidential candidates with special emphasis on Gary Hart. Part 9: The Constitution, examining the operation, characteristics and relations among the three branches of the federal government. Part 10: The Iran-Contra hearings and testimony and actions of Oliver North. Part 11: The Iran-Contra hearings and testimony of Oliver North, Robert McFarlane, and John Poindexter. Part 12: Aid to the contras, the Iranian arms sale, the Bork nomination to the Supreme Court, and l988 presidential candidates focusing on George Bush. Part 13: Pope John Paul the Second and moral, social, and political issues facing the Catholic Church. Part 14: The role of parish priests and the current moral, social, and political issues facing the Catholic Church. Part 15: Arms control and Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork. Part 16: Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and United States Navy ships in the Persian Gulf. Part 17: Business and industry in the United States. Part 18: l988 presidential candidates, social and economic problems facing the United States, and a comparison of the the two major political parties. Part 19: The campaigns of l988 Presidential candidates from each party, social and economic problems facing the United States, and Iowa's caucus system. Part 20: The Ginsburg nomination to the Supreme Court and his withdrawal, and respondents' opinions of factors that might disqualify someone from serving in public office. Part 21: The federal budget deficit, foreign trade, 1988 presidential candidates, and United States-Soviet arms control negotiations. Part 22: 1988 presidential candidates, and the re-entry of Gary Hart into the race. All surveys contain demographic information on respondents.

External Debt in Mexico decreased to 591055.90 USD Million in the fourth quarter of 2024 from 600455.70 USD Million in the third quarter of 2024. This dataset provides - Mexico External Debt - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.