The Gross National Debt

Every weekday the Treasury releases its calculation of the total public debt to the penny.  This number includes the debt held by the public and intragovernmental holdings.

Scale of the Public Debt

Many people have trouble conceiving just how much money a trillion dollars is.  While there are hundreds of billionaires, even the richest amongst them only has assets equaling about 4 or 5% of a trillion dollars. 

The census estimates that the current population of the United States is 295,665,981.  A trillion dollars is approximately $3,382.19 for every man, woman, and child in our country.  The current debt per capita therefore exceeds $26,000.

To put it another way, in 2003, the total economic output of only 7 countries was greater than 1 trillion dollars.  That means that our total debt is well over 7 times as large as the economies (not just the debt) of all but the 7 largest economies in the world.

Learn More About the Debt

• Federal Debt Fact Sheet

• Understanding the Federal Debt Limit

• Chart of Debt Levels over Time

• Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report:  National Debt, Who Bears the Burden

• CRS Report:  The Federal Government Debt, Its Size and Significance

• Government Accountability Office (GAO):  FAQ on the National Debt

• Treasury FAQ on the National Debt

• Our FAQ on the Debt

• Concord Coalition's New Portable Debt Clock

• Debt Archives