Treasury data

Debt to the Penny: U.S. National Debt Today

Total public debt outstanding was $40,249,104,431,078.48 on Oct 5, 2026, according to the U.S. Treasury’s Debt to the Penny (Fiscal Data).

Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Fiscal Data, Debt to the Penny · Published Oct 1, 2026 · Updated Oct 6, 2026, 3:13 PM PT

The total the U.S. government owes on its securities, copied from the Treasury, with a long-run chart, what changed since the last print, and a plain-English guide to the terms.

Total public debt outstanding $40,249,104,431,078.48 As of Oct 5, 2026 Higher than the previous print
Held by the public $32,426,124,989,617.49 As of Oct 5, 2026
Intragovernmental holdings $7,822,979,441,460.99 As of Oct 5, 2026

U.S. national debt over time

Total public debt outstanding

One print per business day, in dollars. The axis shows trillions of dollars, rounded for labels only. The key and the table give the value as published.

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Total public debt outstanding $40,249,104,431,078.48 Oct 5, 2026

Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Fiscal Data, Debt to the Penny, total public debt outstanding · as of Oct 5, 2026 · retrieved Oct 6, 2026, 3:13 PM PT

Data

Total public debt outstanding in dollars, the last print of each calendar quarter (a sample of the plotted line)
As of	Total
Mar 31, 2000	$5,773,391,634,682.91
Jun 30, 2000	$5,685,938,087,296.66
Sep 29, 2000	$5,674,178,209,886.86
Dec 29, 2000	$5,662,216,013,697.37
Mar 30, 2001	$5,773,739,949,951.53
Jun 29, 2001	$5,726,814,835,287.17
Sep 28, 2001	$5,807,463,412,200.06
Dec 31, 2001	$5,943,438,563,436.13
Mar 29, 2002	$6,006,031,606,265.38
Jun 28, 2002	$6,126,468,760,400.48
Sep 30, 2002	$6,228,235,965,597.16
Dec 31, 2002	$6,405,707,456,847.53
Mar 31, 2003	$6,460,776,256,578.16
Jun 30, 2003	$6,670,121,155,027.26
Sep 30, 2003	$6,783,231,062,743.62
Dec 31, 2003	$6,997,964,247,818.28
Mar 31, 2004	$7,131,067,950,647.32
Jun 30, 2004	$7,274,334,972,199.15
Sep 30, 2004	$7,379,052,696,330.32
Dec 31, 2004	$7,596,142,802,424.14
Mar 31, 2005	$7,776,939,047,670.14
Jun 30, 2005	$7,836,495,788,085.86
Sep 30, 2005	$7,932,709,661,723.50
Dec 30, 2005	$8,170,424,541,313.62
Mar 31, 2006	$8,371,156,293,376.33
Jun 30, 2006	$8,420,041,947,892.19
Sep 29, 2006	$8,506,973,899,215.23
Dec 29, 2006	$8,680,224,380,086.18
Mar 30, 2007	$8,849,665,208,495.43
Jun 29, 2007	$8,867,675,276,751.65
Sep 28, 2007	$9,007,653,372,262.48
Dec 31, 2007	$9,229,172,659,218.31
Mar 31, 2008	$9,437,594,138,091.39
Jun 30, 2008	$9,492,006,123,003.80
Sep 30, 2008	$10,024,724,896,912.49
Dec 31, 2008	$10,699,804,864,612.13
Mar 31, 2009	$11,126,941,485,713.37
Jun 30, 2009	$11,545,275,346,431.39
Sep 30, 2009	$11,909,829,003,511.75
Dec 31, 2009	$12,311,349,677,512.03
Mar 31, 2010	$12,773,123,096,139.43
Jun 30, 2010	$13,203,473,753,968.10
Sep 30, 2010	$13,561,623,030,891.79
Dec 31, 2010	$14,025,215,218,708.52
Mar 31, 2011	$14,270,114,530,800.38
Jun 30, 2011	$14,343,087,640,008.40
Sep 30, 2011	$14,790,340,328,557.15
Dec 30, 2011	$15,222,940,045,451.09
Mar 30, 2012	$15,582,078,681,188.69
Jun 29, 2012	$15,856,367,214,324.44
Sep 28, 2012	$16,066,241,407,385.89
Dec 31, 2012	$16,432,730,050,569.12
Mar 29, 2013	$16,771,379,006,760.38
Jun 28, 2013	$16,738,320,054,489.27
Sep 30, 2013	$16,738,183,526,697.32
Dec 31, 2013	$17,351,970,784,950.15
Mar 31, 2014	$17,601,227,291,213.89
Jun 30, 2014	$17,632,606,234,365.92
Sep 30, 2014	$17,824,071,380,733.82
Dec 31, 2014	$18,141,444,135,563.30
Mar 31, 2015	$18,152,056,197,489.27
Jun 30, 2015	$18,151,997,510,872.44
Sep 30, 2015	$18,150,617,666,484.33
Dec 31, 2015	$18,922,179,009,420.89
Mar 31, 2016	$19,264,938,619,643.07
Jun 30, 2016	$19,381,591,140,792.22
Sep 30, 2016	$19,573,444,713,936.79
Dec 30, 2016	$19,976,826,951,047.80
Mar 31, 2017	$19,846,420,062,676.87
Jun 30, 2017	$19,844,554,182,651.33
Sep 29, 2017	$20,244,900,016,053.51
Dec 29, 2017	$20,492,746,546,193.75
Mar 30, 2018	$21,089,642,954,195.85
Jun 29, 2018	$21,195,069,635,322.81
Sep 28, 2018	$21,516,058,183,180.23
Dec 31, 2018	$21,974,095,705,790.55
Mar 29, 2019	$22,027,880,157,027.99
Jun 28, 2019	$22,023,282,617,075.45
Sep 30, 2019	$22,719,401,753,433.78
Dec 31, 2019	$23,201,380,134,806.73
Mar 31, 2020	$23,686,870,812,640.08
Jun 30, 2020	$26,477,240,853,124.76
Sep 30, 2020	$26,945,391,194,615.15
Dec 31, 2020	$27,747,797,947,667.77
Mar 31, 2021	$28,132,570,303,600.16
Jun 30, 2021	$28,529,435,873,139.77
Sep 30, 2021	$28,428,918,570,048.68
Dec 31, 2021	$29,617,214,856,051.75
Mar 31, 2022	$30,400,959,928,180.97
Jun 30, 2022	$30,568,582,029,058.95
Sep 30, 2022	$30,928,911,613,306.73
Dec 30, 2022	$31,419,689,421,557.90
Mar 31, 2023	$31,458,437,575,028.18
Jun 30, 2023	$32,332,274,184,762.99
Sep 29, 2023	$33,167,334,044,723.16
Dec 29, 2023	$34,001,493,655,565.48
Mar 29, 2024	$34,586,533,479,349.88
Jun 28, 2024	$34,831,634,431,393.47
Sep 30, 2024	$35,464,673,929,171.69
Dec 31, 2024	$36,218,605,311,689.91
Mar 31, 2025	$36,214,310,420,174.13
Jun 30, 2025	$36,211,469,351,821.31
Sep 30, 2025	$37,637,553,494,935.61
Dec 31, 2025	$38,514,009,184,232.72
Mar 31, 2026	$39,065,421,393,640.82
Jun 30, 2026	$39,462,398,380,774.37
Sep 30, 2026	$40,171,825,101,340.31
Oct 5, 2026	$40,249,104,431,078.48

National debt today: what changed since the last print

The latest total public debt outstanding print is $40,249,104,431,078.48 on Oct 5, 2026, higher than the print before it, $40,242,446,619,209.33 on Oct 2, 2026. About a year earlier, on Oct 3, 2025, it was $37,852,655,815,448.95, and the latest print is higher than that.

The ten most recent stored prints of total public debt outstanding
Print date	Total public debt outstanding
Oct 5, 2026	$40,249,104,431,078.48
Oct 2, 2026	$40,242,446,619,209.33
Oct 1, 2026	$40,260,641,972,390.03
Sep 30, 2026	$40,171,825,101,340.31
Sep 29, 2026	$40,096,954,633,566.68
Sep 28, 2026	$40,102,185,696,865.37
Sep 25, 2026	$40,097,178,119,750.91
Sep 24, 2026	$40,068,807,991,924.84
Sep 23, 2026	$40,073,558,531,201.68
Sep 22, 2026	$40,097,834,028,442.07

Total public debt outstanding and its two parts, in dollars and cents
Field	Amount	As of
Total public debt outstanding	$40,249,104,431,078.48	Oct 5, 2026
Debt held by the public	$32,426,124,989,617.49	Oct 5, 2026
Intragovernmental holdings	$7,822,979,441,460.99	Oct 5, 2026

As of Oct 5, 2026 · Dollars and cents, as published · U.S. Department of the Treasury · Fiscal Data, Debt to the Penny · Retrieved Oct 6, 2026, 3:03 PM PT

What Debt to the Penny is, in plain English

Debt to the Penny is the Treasury’s daily tally of the total public debt outstanding: everything the federal government owes on the securities it has issued, counted to the penny. The Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service publishes it each business day.

Total public debt outstanding: The full amount owed on Treasury securities. It is the sum of the two pieces below.
Debt held by the public: Treasury securities held outside the federal government’s own accounts: by investors, banks, other governments, and the Federal Reserve.
Intragovernmental holdings: Treasury securities held by federal government trust funds and other government accounts, such as the Social Security trust funds. One part of the government owes another.

National debt questions answered

What is the national debt today?

Total public debt outstanding was $40,249,104,431,078.48 on Oct 5, 2026, according to the U.S. Treasury’s Debt to the Penny (Fiscal Data).

Is the national debt the same as the deficit?

No. The debt is the running total owed. The deficit is the gap in a single year between what the government spends and what it collects. Deficits add to the debt.

Why does the figure move from day to day?

Treasury borrowing, repayment of maturing securities, and payments into and out of government accounts all change the total, and a single day can move either way. The long-run chart is a better guide than any one print.