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The National Debt

How much the United States owes, who it owes it to and what it costs to carry. The guides explain deficits, debt-to-GDP and the Treasury auctions that fund it, with the latest Treasury figures.

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Guides

Guide · 28 Oct 2026The US Budget Deficit: Deficit vs Debt and the 2026 NumbersThe deficit is one year's gap between federal spending and revenue. The debt is the running total. Here are the fiscal 2026 numbers, where the money went and where the projections point.Guide · 28 Oct 2026US Debt to GDP: Where the Ratio Stands and Where It Is HeadingThe ratio depends on which debt and which GDP you use. Here are both current figures with their dates, the history back to 1946, and where CBO and the IMF see it going.Guide · 28 Oct 2026Who Owns US Debt: Holders by Type and CountryForeign investors hold less than a quarter of the national debt. The rest belongs to federal trust funds, the Federal Reserve and a long list of American institutions and households.Guide · 28 Oct 2026Treasury Auctions: How the US Sells Its DebtTreasury offered $31.28 trillion of securities at auction in fiscal 2026. Here is how the process works, who buys, and what the numbers in each result mean.Guide · 28 Oct 2026National Debt by President, Carter to TrumpThe same Treasury data, one method for every term: debt at the end of the fiscal year before a president's first budget against the end of the last fiscal year of the term. Then the reasons the totals only tell part of the story.Guide · 28 Oct 2026The Debt Ceiling and the X-Date ExplainedThe limit was raised by $5 trillion in July 2025. Fifteen months later, about $773 billion of room is left. Here is how the cap works, what Treasury does when it binds, and what the 2023 and 2025 standoffs showed.Guide · 28 Oct 2026Interest on the National Debt: What the US Pays and Why It Is RisingInterest is now the third-largest line in the federal budget. Here is what the Treasury paid in fiscal 2026, the rate it pays on its debt, and why the bill keeps rising as older, cheaper debt is refinanced.Guide · 28 Oct 2026Bond Vigilantes, the Term Premium and Rising Treasury YieldsWhen investors lose patience with a government's borrowing or a central bank's inflation record, they demand more to lend. Here is where the idea comes from, three episodes with the numbers, and how to tell a vigilante move from an ordinary rate cycle.

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