The U.S. national debt is rising by $1 trillion about every 100 days (2024)

FAQs

The U.S. national debt is rising by $1 trillion about every 100 days? ›

Interest payments represent seasonally adjusted annual rate at the end of Q4. At current rates, the U.S. national debt is growing by a remarkable $1 trillion about every 100 days, equal to roughly $3.6 trillion per year.

Over the past year, the debt has increased by nearly $8.5 billion per day, a pace that poses significant risks to the nation's economic stability. As of March 18, 2024, the total national debt stands at $34,551,363,248,839.89. This translates to a debt of $219,381.755 per taxpayer and $102,774.27 per U.S. citizen.

On October 23, 1981, America's national debt crossed the $1 trillion mark. It was an unprecedented, staggering, and earth-shattering figure.

The nation's debt, currently over $34 trillion, is rampantly growing as U.S. lawmakers have been unable to agree to long-term budget reforms that could tame it.

The national debt will rise substantially over the coming decades. Debt held by the public equaled 97 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of fiscal year 2023. Under current law, CBO projects that ratio will continue to climb — reaching 166 percent of GDP in 2054.

At the top is Japan, whose national debt has remained above 100% of its GDP for two decades, reaching 255% in 2023.

A nation saddled with debt will have less to invest in its own future. Rising debt means fewer economic opportunities for Americans. Rising debt reduces business investment and slows economic growth. It also increases expectations of higher rates of inflation and erosion of confidence in the U.S. dollar.

Nearly half of all US foreign-owned debt comes from five countries. All values are adjusted to 2023 dollars. As of January 2023, the five countries owning the most US debt are Japan ($1.1 trillion), China ($859 billion), the United Kingdom ($668 billion), Belgium ($331 billion), and Luxembourg ($318 billion).

How much the government pays in interest depends on the total national debt and the various securities' interest rates . As of April 2024 it costs $624 billion to maintain the debt, which is 16% of the total federal spending in fiscal year 2024. The national debt has increased every year over the past ten years.

Can America pay its debt? ›

Under current policy, the United States has about 20 years for corrective action after which no amount of future tax increases or spending cuts could avoid the government defaulting on its debt whether explicitly or implicitly (i.e., debt monetization producing significant inflation).

It began rising at a fast rate in the 1980's and was accelerated through events like the Iraq Wars and the 2008 Great Recession. Most recently, the debt made another big jump thanks to the pandemic with the federal government spending significantly more than it took in to keep the country running.

Of course, just as with an individual or family, cutting spending and increasing revenue are smart first steps. Beyond that, the government considers things like new taxes, a higher retirement age, removing loopholes from the tax code, and more to reduce annual deficits and the national debt.

If revenues are greater than spending, the result is a budget surplus. And if government spending is greater than the revenue it brings in, the result is a budget deficit, which means the federal government must borrow money to cover its expenses.

US Adds $5.2 Billion Per Day To Its Ballooning Debt Pile, Which Is Now $101,240 Per Citizen — Economist Warns 'Net Interest Payments On The Debt Are Expected To Surpass Defense Spending' Alarm bells are sounding as the U.S. debt surpassed $34 trillion at the start of 2024.

As the national debt has ballooned, debt payments even exceeded Medicaid outlays in 2023—one of the government's largest expenditures. On average, the U.S. spent more than $2 billion per day on interest costs last year.

The U.S. Debt Clock is probably accurate to the nearest ten billion dollars. It goes up at a constant rate, which is periodically adjusted to more or less track government published statistics. The actual debt does not grow at a uniform rate every second.