FEDERAL DEBT AT THE END OF FISCAL YEAR: 1940-2019
(billions of dollars)
Foreign
Federal Social Public deficit as % of
Gross Public Foreign Gov't Security Medicare ---------------- Public
Year Debt Debt Debt Accounts Debt Debt Total Foreign Debt
---- ------- ------- ------- -------- -------- -------- ------- ------- -------
1940 50.7 42.8 7.9 1.7
1941 57.5 48.2 9.3 2.4 -5.5
1942 79.2 67.8 11.4 3.2 -19.5
1943 142.6 127.8 14.9 4.3 -60.0
1944 204.1 184.8 19.3 5.4 -57.0
1945 260.1 235.2 24.9 6.6 -50.4
1946 271.0 241.9 29.1 7.6 -6.7
1947 257.1 224.3 32.8 8.8 17.5
1948 252.0 216.3 35.8 10.0 8.1
1949 252.6 214.3 38.3 11.3 1.9
1950 256.9 219.0 37.8 12.9 -4.7
1951 255.3 214.3 41.0 14.7 4.7
1952 259.1 214.8 44.3 16.6 -0.4
1953 266.0 218.4 47.6 18.4 -3.6
1954 270.8 224.5 46.3 20.0 -6.1
1955 274.4 226.6 47.8 21.1 -2.1
1956 272.7 222.2 50.5 22.6 4.5
1957 272.3 219.3 52.9 23.4 2.8
1958 279.7 226.3 53.3 23.9 -7.0
1959 287.5 234.7 52.8 23.2 -8.4
1960 290.5 236.8 53.7 23.0 -2.1
1961 292.6 238.4 54.3 23.4 -1.5
1962 302.9 248.0 54.9 22.2 -9.7
1963 310.3 254.0 56.3 21.4 -6.0
1964 316.1 256.8 59.2 22.0 -2.9
1965 322.3 260.8 61.5 22.2 -3.9
1966 328.5 263.7 64.8 21.6 0.9 -2.9
1967 340.4 266.6 73.8 25.6 1.8 -2.9
1968 368.7 289.5 79.1 28.1 1.7 -22.9
1969 365.8 278.1 87.7 31.9 2.4 11.4
1970 380.9 283.2 14.0 97.7 37.7 2.7 -5.1 4.9
1971 408.2 303.0 31.8 105.1 40.8 3.4 -19.8 -17.8 10.5
1972 435.9 322.4 49.2 113.6 43.8 3.3 -19.3 -17.4 15.3
1973 466.3 340.9 59.4 125.4 44.3 5.1 -18.5 -10.2 17.4
1974 483.9 343.7 56.8 140.2 46.1 9.2 -2.8 2.6 16.5
1975 541.9 394.7 66.0 147.2 48.2 11.3 -51.0 -9.2 16.7
1976 629.0 477.4 69.8 151.6 44.9 12.1 -82.7 -3.8 14.6
1977 706.4 549.1 95.5 157.3 39.6 13.4 -71.7 -25.7 17.4
1978 776.6 607.1 120.9 169.5 35.4 15.8 -58.0 -25.4 19.9
1979 829.5 640.3 124.2 189.2 33.4 18.4 -33.2 -3.3 19.4
1980 909.0 711.9 124.7 197.1 32.3 19.0 -71.6 -0.5 17.5
1981 994.8 789.4 130.7 205.4 27.2 21.8 -77.5 -6.0 16.6
1982 1137.3 924.6 140.6 212.7 19.3 26.7 -135.2 -9.9 15.2
1983 1371.7 1137.3 160.1 234.4 32.0 20.4 -212.7 -19.5 14.1
1984 1564.6 1307.0 175.6 257.6 32.2 26.0 -169.7 -15.5 13.4
1985 1817.4 1507.3 222.9 310.2 39.8 32.0 -200.3 -47.3 14.8
1986 2120.5 1740.6 265.5 379.9 45.9 48.1 -233.4 -42.6 15.3
1987 2346.0 1889.8 279.5 456.2 65.4 57.0 -149.1 -14.0 14.8
1988 2601.1 2051.6 345.9 549.5 104.2 72.3 -161.9 -66.4 16.9
1989 2867.8 2190.7 391.8 677.1 156.7 94.7 -139.1 -45.9 17.9
1990 3206.3 2411.6 463.8 794.7 214.9 110.2 -220.8 -72.0 19.2
1991 3598.2 2689.0 506.3 909.2 268.4 125.6 -277.4 -42.5 18.8
1992 4001.8 2999.7 562.8 1002.1 319.2 139.2 -310.7 -56.5 18.8
1993 4351.0 3248.4 619.1 1102.6 365.9 149.4 -248.7 -56.3 19.1
1994 4643.3 3433.1 682.0 1210.2 422.7 150.5 -184.7 -62.9 19.9
1995 4920.6 3604.4 820.4 1316.2 483.2 143.4 -171.3 -138.4 22.8
1996 5181.5 3734.1 993.4 1447.4 549.6 152.3 -129.7 -173.0 26.6
1997 5369.2 3772.3 1230.5 1596.9 630.9 151.2 -38.3 -237.1 32.6
1998 5478.2 3721.1 1224.2 1757.1 730.3 157.8 51.2 6.3 32.9
1999 5605.5 3632.4 1281.4 1973.2 855.0 184.1 88.7 -57.2 35.3
2000 5628.7 3409.8 1038.8 2218.9 1006.9 214.0 222.6 242.6 30.5
2001 5769.9 3319.6 992.2 2450.3 1169.8 239.2 90.2 46.6 29.9
2002 6198.4 3540.4 1188.6 2658.0 1328.9 267.8 -220.8 -196.4 33.6
2003 6760.0 3913.4 1443.3 2846.6 1484.5 275.9 -373.0 -254.7 36.9
2004 7354.7 4295.5 1794.5 3059.1 1635.4 282.0 -382.1 -351.2 41.8
2005 7905.3 4592.2 1929.6 3313.1 1809.0 294.6 -296.7 -135.1 42.0
2006 8451.4 4829.0 2025.3 3622.4 1994.2 336.4 -236.8 -95.7 41.9
2007 8950.7 5035.1 2235.3 3915.6 2180.8 358.5 -206.2 -210.0 44.4
2008 9986.1 5803.1 2802.4 4183.0 2366.4 378.1 -767.9 -567.1 48.3
2009 11875.9 7544.7 3570.6 4331.1 2503.8 371.2 -1741.7 -768.2 47.3
2010 13528.8 9018.9 4324.2 4509.9 2585.5 350.8 -1474.2 -753.6 47.9
2011 14764.2 10128.2 4912.1 4636.0 2653.5 318.5 -1109.3 -587.9 48.5
2012 16050.9 11281.1 5472.7 4769.8 2718.1 301.1 -1152.9 -560.6 48.5
2013 16719.4 11982.6 5652.9 4736.9 2755.7 276.1 -701.4 -180.2 47.2
2014* 17892.6 12902.7 4990.0 2772.9 264.6 -920.1
2015* 18713.5 13591.8 5121.7 2772.6 263.8 -689.1
2016* 19511.6 14256.6 5255.0 2776.6 251.7 -664.8
2017* 20261.7 14843.5 5418.3 2766.2 256.8 -586.9
2018* 20961.1 15370.5 5590.6 2747.9 281.0 -527.0
2019* 21670.7 15982.0 5688.8 2717.7 291.6 -611.5
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FEDERAL DEBT AT THE END OF FISCAL YEAR: 1940-2019
(percentage of GDP)
Federal Social
Gross Public Foreign Gov't Security Medicare GDP
Year Debt Debt Debt Accounts Debt Debt ($bil)
---- ------- ------- ------- -------- -------- -------- -------
1940 51.6 43.6 8.1 1.8 98.2
1941 49.5 41.5 8.0 2.1 116.2
1942 53.6 45.9 7.8 2.2 147.7
1943 77.3 69.2 8.1 2.3 184.6
1944 95.5 86.4 9.0 2.5 213.8
1945 114.9 103.9 11.0 2.9 226.4
1946 118.9 106.1 12.8 3.4 228.0
1947 107.6 93.9 13.7 3.7 238.9
1948 96.0 82.4 13.6 3.8 262.4
1949 91.3 77.4 13.8 4.1 276.8
1950 92.1 78.5 13.6 4.6 279.0
1951 78.0 65.5 12.5 4.5 327.4
1952 72.5 60.1 12.4 4.6 357.5
1953 69.5 57.1 12.4 4.8 382.5
1954 69.9 57.9 11.9 5.2 387.7
1955 67.4 55.7 11.7 5.2 407.0
1956 62.1 50.6 11.5 5.1 439.0
1957 58.6 47.2 11.4 5.0 464.2
1958 59.0 47.7 11.2 5.0 474.3
1959 56.9 46.4 10.4 4.6 505.6
1960 54.3 44.3 10.0 4.3 535.1
1961 53.4 43.5 9.9 4.3 547.6
1962 51.6 42.3 9.4 3.8 586.9
1963 50.1 41.0 9.1 3.5 619.3
1964 47.7 38.7 8.9 3.3 662.9
1965 45.4 36.7 8.7 3.1 710.7
1966 42.0 33.7 8.3 2.8 0.1 781.9
1967 40.6 31.8 8.8 3.0 0.2 838.2
1968 41.0 32.2 8.8 3.1 0.2 899.3
1969 37.2 28.3 8.9 3.2 0.2 982.3
1970 36.3 27.0 1.3 9.3 3.6 0.3 1049.1
1971 36.5 27.1 2.8 9.4 3.6 0.3 1119.3
1972 35.7 26.4 4.0 9.3 3.6 0.3 1219.5
1973 34.4 25.1 4.4 9.2 3.3 0.4 1356.0
1974 32.6 23.1 3.8 9.4 3.1 0.6 1486.2
1975 33.6 24.5 4.1 9.1 3.0 0.7 1610.6
1976 35.1 26.7 3.9 8.5 2.5 0.7 1790.3
1977 34.8 27.1 4.7 7.8 2.0 0.7 2028.4
1978 34.1 26.6 5.3 7.4 1.6 0.7 2278.2
1979 32.3 24.9 4.8 7.4 1.3 0.7 2570.0
1980 32.5 25.5 4.5 7.0 1.2 0.7 2796.8
1981 31.7 25.2 4.2 6.5 0.9 0.7 3138.4
1982 34.3 27.9 4.2 6.4 0.6 0.8 3313.9
1983 38.7 32.1 4.5 6.6 0.9 0.6 3541.1
1984 39.6 33.1 4.4 6.5 0.8 0.7 3952.8
1985 42.6 35.3 5.2 7.3 0.9 0.7 4270.4
1986 46.7 38.4 5.9 8.4 1.0 1.1 4536.1
1987 49.1 39.5 5.8 9.5 1.4 1.2 4781.9
1988 50.5 39.8 6.7 10.7 2.0 1.4 5155.1
1989 51.5 39.3 7.0 12.2 2.8 1.7 5570.0
1990 54.2 40.8 7.8 13.4 3.6 1.9 5914.6
1991 58.9 44.0 8.3 14.9 4.4 2.1 6110.0
1992 62.2 46.6 8.7 15.6 5.0 2.2 6434.7
1993 64.0 47.8 9.1 16.2 5.4 2.2 6794.9
1994 64.5 47.7 9.5 16.8 5.9 2.1 7197.8
1995 64.9 47.5 10.8 17.4 6.4 1.9 7583.3
1996 64.9 46.8 12.5 18.1 6.9 1.9 7978.3
1997 63.3 44.5 14.5 18.8 7.4 1.8 8483.2
1998 61.2 41.6 13.7 19.6 8.2 1.8 8954.8
1999 58.9 38.2 13.5 20.7 9.0 1.9 9514.0
2000 55.4 33.6 10.2 21.9 9.9 2.1 10154.0
2001 54.6 31.4 9.4 23.2 11.1 2.3 10568.4
2002 57.0 32.5 10.9 24.4 12.2 2.5 10879.4
2003 59.6 34.5 12.7 25.1 13.1 2.4 11334.0
2004 60.8 35.5 14.8 25.3 13.5 2.3 12090.7
2005 61.3 35.6 15.0 25.7 14.0 2.3 12890.5
2006 61.7 35.3 14.8 26.5 14.6 2.5 13686.6
2007 62.5 35.1 15.6 27.3 15.2 2.5 14324.9
2008 67.7 39.3 19.0 28.3 16.0 2.6 14756.1
2009 82.4 52.3 24.8 30.0 17.4 2.6 14413.6
2010 91.5 61.0 29.2 30.5 17.5 2.4 14791.4
2011 96.0 65.8 31.9 30.1 17.2 2.1 15387.1
2012 99.7 70.1 34.0 29.6 16.9 1.9 16094.2
2013 100.6 72.1 34.0 28.5 16.6 1.7 16618.6
2014* 103.2 74.4 28.8 16.0 1.5 17332.3
2015* 102.7 74.6 28.1 15.2 1.4 18219.4
2016* 101.7 74.3 27.4 14.5 1.3 19180.6
2017* 100.3 73.5 26.8 13.7 1.3 20199.4
2018* 98.8 72.4 26.4 13.0 1.3 21216.3
2019* 97.6 72.0 25.6 12.2 1.3 22196.1
* estimated
Note: Gross Debt equals debt held by the public (called Public Debt
above) plus debt held by federal government accounts;
Social Security includes Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Fund (OAS)
and Disability Insurance Fund (DI); Medicare includes Hospital
Insurance Fund (HI) and Supplementary Medical Insurance Fund (SMI)
Source: Budget of the United States Government, FY 2015: Historical Tables,
tables 7.1, 10.1, 13.1; Foreign Debt from Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED),
Series FDHBFIN, Federal Debt Held by Foreign & International Investors
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