US national debt: which number is which
Three different US debt figures circulate and they differ by trillions. The gap is not disagreement — it is that one of them counts money the government owes itself.
At a glance
| Measure | Latest | Period | Published by | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total public debt outstanding | 40,068.81 USD billion | Sep 24, 2026 | US Treasury | Daily |
| Debt held by the public | 32,362.73 USD billion | Sep 24, 2026 | US Treasury | Daily |
| Intragovernmental holdings | 7,706.08 USD billion | Sep 24, 2026 | US Treasury | Daily |
| Public debt to GDP | 122.59% | Q1 2026 | US Treasury / BEA | Quarterly |
| Average interest rate on the debt | 3.49 %/year | Aug 2026 | US Treasury | Monthly |
How each one is built
- Total public debt outstanding
- Method: Everything the federal government owes, including intragovernmental holdings
- Covers: The headline "national debt" figure, and the one the debt ceiling applies to
- Released: Next business day
- Debt held by the public
- Method: Debt owed to investors outside the federal government, including the Federal Reserve
- Covers: The measure economists use, because it is what was actually borrowed in markets
- Released: Next business day
- Intragovernmental holdings
- Method: Debt the government owes to its own trust funds, mainly Social Security
- Covers: An accounting entry, not a market borrowing
- Released: Next business day
- Public debt to GDP
- Method: Debt divided by annual GDP — the ratio used for international comparison
- Covers: Beware which debt measure the numerator uses; the two give very different ratios
- Released: After the GDP release
- Average interest rate on the debt
- Method: Weighted average rate across all outstanding interest-bearing securities
- Covers: Moves slowly, because only maturing debt is refinanced at current rates
- Released: Mid-month
The trillions that are not really owed
Total public debt includes intragovernmental holdings — Treasury securities held by the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. Those are a claim by one part of the government on another. They matter for trust fund accounting and for the debt ceiling, but no money was raised in markets and no private investor is owed anything.
Debt held by the public is the economically meaningful measure: it is what the Treasury actually sold, it determines interest paid to outside holders, and it is the number used in almost all academic work and international comparison. It includes the Federal Reserve’s holdings, which is why quantitative tightening raises it without any new borrowing.
Which one to use
Use debt held by the public for any economic argument — sustainability, crowding out, interest burden, comparison with other countries.
Use total public debt only when the subject is the statutory debt limit, which applies to the total, or when quoting the headline figure people recognise.
For the interest burden, the average rate on the debt matters more than the level. Because the Treasury refinances only maturing securities, a rise in market yields passes into the actual interest bill over years, not months — which is why interest cost kept rising long after yields stopped.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between total national debt and debt held by the public?
- Total debt includes securities held by federal trust funds such as Social Security. Debt held by the public excludes those and counts only what was borrowed from outside investors.
- Which debt figure does the debt ceiling apply to?
- The statutory limit applies to total public debt outstanding, including intragovernmental holdings.
- Does the Federal Reserve count as "the public"?
- Yes. Treasury securities held by the Federal Reserve are counted as debt held by the public, even though the Fed remits most of its earnings back to the Treasury.
- Why does interest cost keep rising after yields stop rising?
- Only maturing debt is refinanced at current rates, so a change in market yields works through the average rate on the debt gradually over several years.
