What is the US national debt and how has it grown over time?

The national debt is the total amount of outstanding borrowed money the federal government has accumulated over time.

Every year the US spends more money than it earns results in an annual budget deficit.

These deficits add up over time, creating a shortfall that the US covers, in part, by borrowing money from investors; otherwise, the government would need to cut services, increase revenues, or some combination. These loans — plus the interest owed — are the national debt.

The national debt grows every year there’s a deficit, as the country borrows an increasing amount of money. The US has run a budget deficit every year for the last 20 years, during which time national debt has grown fivefold.

How has the national debt changed over time?

The national debt has grown by $30.71 trillion since 1993, and nearly $16.79 trillion in the last decade.^[1] The largest national debt increases followed the Great Recession in 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The national debt grew $2.41 trillion over the last 365 days, an increase of about $6.6 billion a day.

The national debt must remain below the debt ceiling, a limit imposed by Congress on the amount the federal government can borrow. (Under the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, the debt ceiling is suspended until January 1, 2025,. By that date, Congress can either extend the debt suspension, or raise the debt ceiling.)

To fund its budget deficit—the gap between what it spends and what it earns—the government sells various types of government securities like Treasury bills, notes, bonds, and more. This money allows the US to cover its deficit in the short-term by promising to pay back the government securities with interest at a later date.

The debt is categorized into two types: public debt and intragovernmental debt. Public debt is owned by individuals, companies, and foreign governments, while intragovernmental debt is held within different parts of the US government itself.

As these securities come with a promise of interest payments, the government's obligation to pay interest increases its financial burden. This means a larger portion of the government’s budget goes towards paying off this debt, which can limit funding available for other government programs.

The growing national debt is considered unsustainable in the intermediate- and long-term, according to a 2022 Government Accountability Office report. The Congressional Budget Office notes that it is unlikely to shrink over the next several years.

Where does this data come from?

This data is sourced from the Treasury Department's 'Debt to the Penny' dataset. It details the total outstanding public debt, updated daily. Information on the debt ceiling is also drawn from the Treasury's corresponding page, supplemented by historical research on changes to the debt limit.

Additional resources are pulled from the Congressional Budget Office’s Options for Reducing the Deficit publication, which tracks the national debt and projects future rates in different scenarios.

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