A History of Debt In The United States

On this page you will find a history of the national debt balance of the United States, from 1791 until the current fiscal year.

Historical End of Fiscal Year US Debt Balances 1791-2011

Year

Nominal Dollars

Real Dollars (2012)

1791

$75,463,477

$1,886,586,925

1792

$77,227,925

$1,883,607,927

1793

$80,358,634

$1,913,300,810

1794

$78,427,405

$1,668,668,191

1795

$80,747,587

$1,495,325,685

1796

$83,762,172

$1,495,753,071

1797

$82,064,479

$1,519,712,574

1798

$79,228,529

$1,494,877,906

1799

$78,408,670

$1,479,408,868

1800

$82,976,294

$1,536,598,037

1801

$83,038,051

$1,537,741,685

1802

$80,712,632

$1,754,622,435

1803

$77,054,686

$1,605,305,958

1804

$86,427,121

$1,728,542,420

1805

$82,312,151

$1,646,243,020

1806

$75,723,271

$1,456,216,750

1807

$69,218,399

$1,384,367,980

1808

$65,196,318

$1,207,339,222

1809

$57,023,192

$1,075,909,283

1810

$53,173,218

$1,003,268,264

1811

$48,005,588

$857,242,643

1812

$45,209,738

$793,153,298

1813

$55,962,828

$822,982,765

1814

$81,487,846

$1,086,504,613

1815

$99,833,660

$1,512,631,212

1816

$127,334,934

$2,122,248,900

1817

$123,491,965

$2,166,525,702

1818

$103,466,634

$1,916,048,778

1819

$95,529,648

$1,769,067,556

1820

$91,015,566

$1,820,311,320

1821

$89,987,428

$1,874,738,083

1822

$93,546,677

$1,870,933,540

1823

$90,875,877

$2,019,463,933

1824

$90,269,778

$2,201,701,902

1825

$83,788,433

$1,994,962,690

1826

$81,054,060

$1,929,858,571

1827

$73,987,357

$1,720,636,209

1828

$67,475,044

$1,645,732,780

1829

$58,421,414

$1,460,535,350

1830

$48,565,407

$1,245,266,846

1831

$39,123,192

$1,057,383,568

1832

$24,322,235

$657,357,703

1833

$7,001,699

$194,491,639

1834

$4,760,082

$128,650,865

1835

$33,733

$887,711

1836

$37,513

$937,825

1837

$336,958

$8,218,488

1838

$3,308,124

$82,703,100

1839

$10,434,221

$260,855,525

1840

$3,573,344

$96,576,865

1841

$5,250,876

$141,915,568

1842

$13,594,481

$388,413,743

1843

$20,201,226

$631,288,313

1843

$32,742,922

$1,023,216,313

1844

$23,461,653

$733,176,656

1845

$15,925,303

$482,584,939

1846

$15,550,203

$471,218,273

1847

$38,826,535

$1,109,329,571

1848

$47,044,862

$1,383,672,412

1849

$63,061,859

$1,910,965,424

1850

$63,452,774

$1,922,811,333

1851

$68,304,796

$2,069,842,303

1852

$66,199,342

$2,006,040,667

1853

$59,803,118

$1,812,215,697

1854

$42,242,222

$1,173,395,056

1855

$35,586,957

$961,809,649

1856

$31,972,538

$888,126,056

1857

$28,699,832

$775,671,135

1858

$44,911,881

$1,283,196,600

1859

$58,496,838

$1,624,912,167

1860

$64,842,288

$1,801,174,667

1861

$90,580,874

$2,383,707,211

1862

$524,176,412

$12,190,149,116

1863

$1,119,772,139

$20,736,521,093

1864

$1,815,784,371

$27,101,259,269

1865

$2,680,647,870

$38,294,969,571

1866

$2,773,236,174

$40,782,884,912

1867

$2,678,126,104

$42,509,938,159

1868

$2,611,687,851

$42,814,554,934

1869

$2,588,452,214

$44,628,486,448

1870

$2,480,672,428

$44,297,721,929

1871

$2,353,211,332

$45,254,064,077

1872

$2,253,251,329

$43,331,756,327

1873

$2,234,482,993

$43,813,392,020

1874

$2,251,690,468

$45,952,866,694

1875

$2,232,284,532

$47,495,415,574

1876

$2,180,395,067

$47,399,892,761

1877

$2,205,301,392

$49,006,697,600

1878

$2,256,205,893

$52,469,904,488

1879

$2,349,567,482

$54,641,104,233

1880

$2,120,415,371

$48,191,258,432

1881

$2,069,013,570

$47,023,035,682

1882

$1,918,312,994

$43,598,022,591

1883

$1,884,171,728

$43,817,947,163

1884

$1,830,528,924

$43,584,022,000

1885

$1,863,964,873

$45,462,557,878

1886

$1,775,063,014

$44,376,575,350

1887

$1,657,602,593

$40,429,331,537

1888

$1,692,858,985

$41,289,243,537

1889

$1,619,052,922

$41,514,177,487

1890

$1,552,140,205

$39,798,466,795

1891

$1,545,996,592

$39,640,938,256

1892

$1,588,464,145

$40,729,849,872

1893

$1,545,985,686

$40,683,833,842

1894

$1,632,253,637

$44,114,963,162

1895

$1,676,120,983

$46,558,916,194

1896

$1,769,840,323

$49,162,231,194

1897

$1,817,672,666

$50,490,907,389

1898

$1,796,531,996

$49,903,666,556

1899

$1,991,927,307

$55,331,314,083

1900

$2,136,961,092

$59,360,030,333

1901

$2,143,326,934

$59,536,859,278

1902

$2,158,610,446

$58,340,822,865

1903

$2,202,464,782

$57,959,599,526

1904

$2,264,003,585

$59,579,041,711

1905

$2,274,615,064

$59,858,291,158

1906

$2,337,161,839

$61,504,258,921

1907

$2,457,188,062

$61,429,701,550

1908

$2,626,806,272

$67,354,006,974

1909

$2,639,546,241

$67,680,672,846

1910

$2,652,665,838

$64,699,166,780

1911

$2,765,600,607

$67,453,673,341

1912

$2,868,373,874

$69,960,338,390

1913

$2,916,204,914

$69,433,450,333

1914

$2,912,499,269

$67,732,541,140

1915

$3,058,136,873

$71,119,462,163

1916

$3,609,244,262

$76,792,431,106

1917

$5,717,770,280

$103,959,459,636

1918

$14,592,161,414

$224,494,790,985

1919

$27,390,970,113

$370,148,244,770

1920

$25,952,456,406

$301,772,748,907

1921

$23,977,450,553

$311,395,461,727

1922

$22,963,381,708

$318,935,857,056

1923

$22,349,707,365

$306,160,374,863

1924

$21,250,812,989

$291,107,027,247

1925

$20,516,193,888

$273,549,251,840

1926

$19,643,216,315

$258,463,372,566

1927

$18,511,906,932

$250,160,904,486

1928

$17,604,293,201

$241,154,701,384

1929

$16,931,088,484

$231,932,718,959

1930

$16,185,309,831

$227,962,110,296

1931

$16,801,281,492

$258,481,253,723

1932

$19,487,002,444

$330,288,177,017

1933

$22,538,672,560

$402,476,295,714

1934

$27,053,141,414

$474,616,516,035

1935

$28,700,892,625

$486,455,807,203

1936

$33,778,543,494

$572,517,686,339

1937

$36,424,613,732

$587,493,769,871

1938

$37,164,740,315

$619,412,338,583

1939

$40,439,532,411

$685,415,803,576

1940

$42,967,531,038

$716,125,517,300

1941

$48,961,443,536

$777,165,770,413

1942

$72,422,445,116

$1,034,606,358,800

1943

$136,696,090,330

$1,847,244,463,919

1944

$201,003,387,221

$2,680,045,162,947

1945

$258,682,187,410

$3,359,508,927,403

1946

$269,422,099,173

$3,246,049,387,627

1947

$258,286,383,109

$2,718,804,032,726

1948

$252,292,246,513

$2,449,439,286,534

1949

$252,770,359,860

$2,478,140,782,941

1950

$257,357,352,351

$2,498,615,071,369

1951

$255,221,976,815

$2,299,297,088,423

1952

$259,105,178,785

$2,292,966,183,938

1953

$266,071,061,639

$2,333,956,681,044

1954

$271,259,599,108

$2,358,779,122,678

1955

$274,374,222,803

$2,385,862,806,983

1956

$272,750,813,649

$2,351,300,117,664

1957

$270,527,171,896

$2,254,393,099,133

1958

$276,343,217,746

$2,228,574,336,661

1959

$284,705,907,078

$2,296,015,379,661

1960

$286,330,760,848

$2,254,572,920,063

1961

$288,970,938,610

$2,257,585,457,891

1962

$298,200,822,721

$2,311,634,284,659

1963

$305,859,632,996

$2,334,806,358,748

1964

$311,712,899,257

$2,343,706,009,451

1965

$317,273,898,984

$2,350,177,029,511

1966

$319,907,087,795

$2,301,489,840,252

1967

$326,220,937,795

$2,281,265,299,266

1968

$347,578,406,426

$2,332,740,982,725

1969

$353,720,253,841

$2,252,995,247,395

1970

$370,918,706,950

$2,234,450,041,867

1971

$398,129,744,456

$2,301,328,002,636

1972

$427,260,460,941

$2,386,929,949,391

1973

$458,141,605,312

$2,411,271,606,905

1974

$475,059,815,732

$2,251,468,321,005

1975

$533,189,000,000

$2,318,213,043,478

1976

$620,433,000,000

$2,553,222,222,222

1977

$698,840,000,000

$2,698,223,938,224

1978

$771,544,000,000

$2,765,390,681,004

1979

$826,519,000,000

$2,657,617,363,344

1980

$907,701,000,000

$2,578,696,022,727

1981

$997,855,000,000

$2,565,179,948,586

1982

$1,142,034,000,000

$2,765,215,496,368

1983

$1,377,210,000,000

$3,232,887,323,944

1984

$1,572,266,000,000

$3,541,139,639,640

1985

$1,823,103,000,000

$3,963,267,391,304

1986

$2,125,302,616,660

$4,531,562,082,431

1987

$2,350,276,890,950

$4,835,960,680,967

1988

$2,602,337,712,040

$5,142,959,905,217

1989

$2,857,430,960,190

$5,391,379,170,170

1990

$3,233,313,451,780

$5,784,102,775,993

1991

$3,665,303,351,700

$6,286,969,728,473

1992

$4,064,620,655,520

$6,774,367,759,200

1993

$4,411,488,883,140

$7,138,331,526,117

1994

$4,692,749,910,010

$7,401,813,738,186

1995

$4,973,982,900,710

$7,628,808,129,923

1996

$5,224,810,939,140

$7,786,603,486,051

1997

$5,413,146,011,400

$7,890,883,398,542

1998

$5,526,193,008,900

$7,928,540,902,296

1999

$5,656,270,901,620

$7,933,058,768,050

2000

$5,674,178,209,890

$7,699,020,637,571

2001

$5,807,463,412,200

$7,671,682,182,563

2002

$6,228,235,965,600

$8,099,136,496,229

2003

$6,783,231,062,740

$8,619,099,190,267

2004

$7,379,052,696,330

$9,132,490,960,804

2005

$7,932,709,661,720

$9,500,251,091,880

2006

$8,506,973,899,220

$9,868,879,233,434

2007

$9,007,653,372,260

$10,155,189,822,165

2008

$10,024,724,896,900

$10,884,609,008,578

2009

$11,909,829,003,500

$12,973,669,938,453

2010

$13,561,623,030,900

$14,535,501,640,836

2011

$14,790,340,328,557

$15,374,574,146,109

2012

$16,066,241,407,385

$16,360,734,630,738

2013*

$16,738,767,256,597

$16,738,767,256,597

*2013 Fiscal Year is Ongoing



Source: TreasuryDirect.gov - Historical Debt Outstanding - Annual

Source: Oregon State University - Inflation Conversion Factors