| Debt in 2025 Q1 | Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Total public debt | 36.2 | current $, trillion |
| Debt held by the public | 28.9 | current $, trillion |
| Debt held by the Fed | 4.6 | current $, trillion |
| Total public debt/GDP | 120.9 | % |
| Debt held by the public/GDP | 96.6 | % |
| Debt held by Fed/GDP | 15.2 | % |
| Govt finances in FY2024 | Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 4.9 | $, trillions |
| Outlays | 6.8 | $, trillions |
| Budget balance | -1.8 | $, trillions |
| Revenue/GDP | 17.1 | % |
| Outlays/GDP | 23.4 | % |
| Budget balance/GDP | -6.4 | % |
What is Debt Held by the Public?
All federal debt held by individuals, corporations, state or local governments, Federal Reserve Banks, foreign governments, and other entities outside the United States Government less Federal Financing Bank (FFB) securities. It does not include intra-governmental holdings.
Debt held by the public is composed of Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), etc.
Source: Treasury
How much debt is effectively held by the Public?
“A more accurate series of federal debt held by the public” would exclude the holdings by Federal Reserve Banks from Federal debt held by the public.
Source: FRED
NOTES
Data on debt is from FRED.
Data on govt outlays, revenue and budget deficits is from CBO.
Data on nominal and real deficits is from OMB.
Note: For several weeks after the Trump administration took over in Jan 2025, historical data on budget deficits went missing from the OMB website. The data is now back.
Updated: 2025-08-30
q-budgets-CBO.qmd