The US national debt by year, 1980 to 2026
A debt clock that counts from $908 billion in 1980 to over $40 trillion, with the curve drawing underneath.
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What the data shows
- US national debt: $908,000,000,000 in 1980, $40,172,000,000,000 in 2026 (44× higher).
About this chart
The federal government's total debt outstanding at the end of each fiscal year (September 30), straight from the Treasury's own records.
It took until 1981 to reach $1 trillion. Since then the debt has roughly doubled every decade or so, with the biggest one-year jumps in the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 pandemic.
The data
Source: U.S. Treasury, Historical Debt Outstanding, rounded to the nearest billion. Retrieved November 4, 2026.
| Date | US national debt |
|---|---|
| 1980 | $908,000,000,000 |
| 1981 | $998,000,000,000 |
| 1982 | $1,142,000,000,000 |
| 1983 | $1,377,000,000,000 |
| 1984 | $1,572,000,000,000 |
| 1985 | $1,823,000,000,000 |
| 1986 | $2,125,000,000,000 |
| 1987 | $2,350,000,000,000 |
| 1988 | $2,602,000,000,000 |
| 1989 | $2,857,000,000,000 |
| 1990 | $3,233,000,000,000 |
| 1991 | $3,665,000,000,000 |
| 1992 | $4,065,000,000,000 |
| 1993 | $4,411,000,000,000 |
| 1994 | $4,693,000,000,000 |
| 1995 | $4,974,000,000,000 |
| 1996 | $5,225,000,000,000 |
| 1997 | $5,413,000,000,000 |
| 1998 | $5,526,000,000,000 |
| 1999 | $5,656,000,000,000 |
| 2000 | $5,674,000,000,000 |
| 2001 | $5,807,000,000,000 |
| 2002 | $6,228,000,000,000 |
| 2003 | $6,783,000,000,000 |
| 2004 | $7,379,000,000,000 |
| 2005 | $7,933,000,000,000 |
| 2006 | $8,507,000,000,000 |
| 2007 | $9,008,000,000,000 |
| 2008 | $10,025,000,000,000 |
| 2009 | $11,910,000,000,000 |
| 2010 | $13,562,000,000,000 |
| 2011 | $14,790,000,000,000 |
| 2012 | $16,066,000,000,000 |
| 2013 | $16,738,000,000,000 |
| 2014 | $17,824,000,000,000 |
| 2015 | $18,151,000,000,000 |
| 2016 | $19,573,000,000,000 |
| 2017 | $20,245,000,000,000 |
| 2018 | $21,516,000,000,000 |
| 2019 | $22,719,000,000,000 |
| 2020 | $26,945,000,000,000 |
| 2021 | $28,429,000,000,000 |
| 2022 | $30,929,000,000,000 |
| 2023 | $33,167,000,000,000 |
| 2024 | $35,465,000,000,000 |
| 2025 | $37,638,000,000,000 |
| 2026 | $40,172,000,000,000 |
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Frequently asked questions
Where does this data come from?
U.S. Treasury, Historical Debt Outstanding, rounded to the nearest billion. Retrieved November 4, 2026. You can download the full table as a CSV from this page.
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