Ledger · Sovereign borrowing
U.S. federal debt outstanding at fiscal year-end, 2000 to 2026
The U.S. Treasury recorded USD 40.17 trillion in total outstanding debt on 30 September 2026, up USD 2.53 trillion from the previous fiscal year-end. The ledger shows the annual balance and change for each year from 2000.
Sources checked
Values are in trillions of nominal U.S. dollars. Search the table for any fiscal year from 2000 to 2026.
What the annual balance measures
Treasury records the total outstanding federal debt at the close of the fiscal year. In this series, the year ends on 30 September. The amount is a stock measured at a specific date. The annual change column shows the difference between consecutive stocks. Source 1 Source 2
Two categories make up federal debt
The Government Accountability Office describes debt held by the public as federal borrowing held outside the federal government. Intragovernmental debt is owed by Treasury to other federal accounts. The annual historical series reports a combined balance. Treasury’s daily series gives the two components separately. Source 3 Source 2 Source 4
Balance changes and deficits answer different questions
The fiscal year 2025 balance rose by about USD 2.17 trillion in the Treasury series. GAO reports a budget deficit of about USD 1.8 trillion for the same fiscal year. The deficit measures the gap between spending and revenue over a period. The balance change measures how much the outstanding debt shifted between two dates. Source 1 Source 3
Keep the basis consistent across comparisons
The table keeps the figures in nominal dollars and uses the same reporting date each year. To compare debt with the size of the economy, a reader would need a compatible GDP series. To compare purchasing power across years, a reader would need a price index. Source 1 Source 2