As of May 2025, the US national debt is approximately $36.2 trillion.
It's important to note that this figure changes constantly due to ongoing government borrowing and repayments. Some sources, like the U.S. Treasury's "Debt to the Penny" dataset, provide daily updates, and as of June 17, 2025, it was around $36.215 trillion.
Here are some additional key points about the US national debt:
* Per-person debt: As of 2024, the federal debt was equivalent to approximately $106,000 per person.
* Growing debt: The debt has been increasing significantly, growing by about $1 trillion every three months.
* Debt as a percentage of GDP: The US national debt represents about 122% of the country's annual economic output (GDP). A higher debt-to-GDP ratio can indicate greater difficulty in repaying the debt.
* Who owns the debt: Roughly three-quarters of the debt is held domestically by US private investors, intra-governmental US agencies, and the Federal Reserve. The remaining quarter is held by foreign investors, with Japan and the United Kingdom being the largest foreign holders.
* Interest payments: A significant portion of the federal budget is allocated to paying interest on the debt, with estimates suggesting it could top $1 trillion before the decade is out.