Debt in 2024 Q3 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 121.9 %
Debt held by the public/GDP 97.1 %
Debt held by Fed/GDP 15.6 %
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.

Note: Previously, historical data on budget deficits was available at OMB. However, since around March 1, 2025, that data has been missing from the OMB website.


q-budgets-CBO.qmd