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

$1,796,749,452

1792

$77,227,925

$1,795,998,256

1793

$80,358,634

$1,785,747,422

1794

$78,427,405

$1,568,548,100

1795

$80,747,587

$1,416,624,333

1796

$83,762,172

$1,396,036,200

1797

$82,064,479

$1,439,727,702

1798

$79,228,529

$1,414,795,161

1799

$78,408,670

$1,400,154,821

1800

$82,976,294

$1,455,724,456

1801

$83,038,051

$1,456,807,912

1802

$80,712,632

$1,681,513,167

1803

$77,054,686

$1,510,876,196

1804

$86,427,121

$1,630,700,396

1805

$82,312,151

$1,553,059,453

1806

$75,723,271

$1,376,786,745

1807

$69,218,399

$1,331,123,058

1808

$65,196,318

$1,143,795,053

1809

$57,023,192

$1,018,271,286

1810

$53,173,218

$949,521,750

1811

$48,005,588

$813,654,034

1812

$45,209,738

$753,495,633

1813

$55,962,828

$777,261,500

1814

$81,487,846

$1,018,598,075

1815

$99,833,660

$1,426,195,143

1816

$127,334,934

$1,989,608,344

1817

$123,491,965

$2,058,199,417

1818

$103,466,634

$1,815,204,105

1819

$95,529,648

$1,675,958,737

1820

$91,015,566

$1,717,274,830

1821

$89,987,428

$1,764,459,373

1822

$93,546,677

$1,765,031,642

1823

$90,875,877

$1,933,529,298

1824

$90,269,778

$2,051,585,864

1825

$83,788,433

$1,861,965,178

1826

$81,054,060

$1,801,201,333

1827

$73,987,357

$1,644,163,489

1828

$67,475,044

$1,569,187,070

1829

$58,421,414

$1,390,986,048

1830

$48,565,407

$1,156,319,214

1831

$39,123,192

$1,003,158,769

1832

$24,322,235

$623,647,051

1833

$7,001,699

$184,255,237

1834

$4,760,082

$122,053,385

1835

$33,733

$843,325

1836

$37,513

$893,167

1837

$336,958

$7,836,233

1838

$3,308,124

$78,764,857

1839

$10,434,221

$248,433,833

1840

$3,573,344

$91,624,205

1841

$5,250,876

$134,637,846

1842

$13,594,481

$367,418,405

1843

$20,201,226

$612,158,364

1843

$32,742,922

$992,209,758

1844

$23,461,653

$690,048,618

1845

$15,925,303

$468,391,265

1846

$15,550,203

$444,291,514

1847

$38,826,535

$1,049,365,811

1848

$47,044,862

$1,306,801,722

1849

$63,061,859

$1,801,767,400

1850

$63,452,774

$1,812,936,400

1851

$68,304,796

$1,951,565,600

1852

$66,199,342

$1,891,409,771

1853

$59,803,118

$1,708,660,514

1854

$42,242,222

$1,111,637,421

1855

$35,586,957

$912,486,077

1856

$31,972,538

$841,382,579

1857

$28,699,832

$735,893,128

1858

$44,911,881

$1,213,834,622

1859

$58,496,838

$1,539,390,474

1860

$64,842,288

$1,706,376,000

1861

$90,580,874

$2,264,521,850

1862

$524,176,412

$11,395,139,391

1863

$1,119,772,139

$19,645,125,246

1864

$1,815,784,371

$25,574,427,761

1865

$2,680,647,870

$36,224,971,216

1866

$2,773,236,174

$38,517,169,083

1867

$2,678,126,104

$39,972,031,403

1868

$2,611,687,851

$40,807,622,672

1869

$2,588,452,214

$42,433,642,852

1870

$2,480,672,428

$42,045,295,390

1871

$2,353,211,332

$42,785,660,582

1872

$2,253,251,329

$40,968,205,982

1873

$2,234,482,993

$41,379,314,685

1874

$2,251,690,468

$43,301,739,769

1875

$2,232,284,532

$44,645,690,640

1876

$2,180,395,067

$45,424,897,229

1877

$2,205,301,392

$46,921,306,213

1878

$2,256,205,893

$50,137,908,733

1879

$2,349,567,482

$52,212,610,711

1880

$2,120,415,371

$46,095,986,326

1881

$2,069,013,570

$44,978,555,870

1882

$1,918,312,994

$41,702,456,391

1883

$1,884,171,728

$40,960,254,957

1884

$1,830,528,924

$41,602,930,091

1885

$1,863,964,873

$42,362,838,023

1886

$1,775,063,014

$42,263,405,095

1887

$1,657,602,593

$38,548,897,512

1888

$1,692,858,985

$39,368,813,605

1889

$1,619,052,922

$38,548,879,095

1890

$1,552,140,205

$37,857,078,171

1891

$1,545,996,592

$37,707,233,951

1892

$1,588,464,145

$38,743,027,927

1893

$1,545,985,686

$37,706,967,951

1894

$1,632,253,637

$41,852,657,359

1895

$1,676,120,983

$44,108,446,921

1896

$1,769,840,323

$46,574,745,342

1897

$1,817,672,666

$47,833,491,211

1898

$1,796,531,996

$47,277,157,789

1899

$1,991,927,307

$52,419,139,658

1900

$2,136,961,092

$56,235,818,211

1901

$2,143,326,934

$56,403,340,368

1902

$2,158,610,446

$55,348,985,795

1903

$2,202,464,782

$55,061,619,550

1904

$2,264,003,585

$56,600,089,625

1905

$2,274,615,064

$56,865,376,600

1906

$2,337,161,839

$57,003,947,293

1907

$2,457,188,062

$58,504,477,667

1908

$2,626,806,272

$62,543,006,476

1909

$2,639,546,241

$64,379,176,610

1910

$2,652,665,838

$61,689,903,209

1911

$2,765,600,607

$64,316,293,186

1912

$2,868,373,874

$65,190,315,318

1913

$2,916,204,914

$64,804,553,644

1914

$2,912,499,269

$64,722,205,978

1915

$3,058,136,873

$66,481,236,370

1916

$3,609,244,262

$73,658,046,163

1917

$5,717,770,280

$98,582,246,207

1918

$14,592,161,414

$214,590,609,029

1919

$27,390,970,113

$351,166,283,500

1920

$25,952,456,406

$288,360,626,733

1921

$23,977,450,553

$296,017,908,062

1922

$22,963,381,708

$302,149,759,316

1923

$22,349,707,365

$290,255,939,805

1924

$21,250,812,989

$275,984,584,273

1925

$20,516,193,888

$259,698,656,810

1926

$19,643,216,315

$245,540,203,938

1927

$18,511,906,932

$234,327,935,848

1928

$17,604,293,201

$228,627,184,429

1929

$16,931,088,484

$219,884,266,026

1930

$16,185,309,831

$215,804,131,080

1931

$16,801,281,492

$243,496,833,217

1932

$19,487,002,444

$314,306,491,032

1933

$22,538,672,560

$382,011,399,322

1934

$27,053,141,414

$443,494,121,541

1935

$28,700,892,625

$462,917,622,984

1936

$33,778,543,494

$536,167,357,048

1937

$36,424,613,732

$560,378,672,800

1938

$37,164,740,315

$580,699,067,422

1939

$40,439,532,411

$641,897,339,857

1940

$42,967,531,038

$682,024,302,190

1941

$48,961,443,536

$741,840,053,576

1942

$72,422,445,116

$978,681,690,757

1943

$136,696,090,330

$1,752,513,978,590

1944

$201,003,387,221

$2,512,542,340,263

1945

$258,682,187,410

$3,193,607,251,975

1946

$269,422,099,173

$3,061,614,763,330

1947

$258,286,383,109

$2,557,290,921,871

1948

$252,292,246,513

$2,314,607,766,174

1949

$252,770,359,860

$2,340,466,295,000

1950

$257,357,352,351

$2,361,076,627,073

1951

$255,221,976,815

$2,162,898,108,602

1952

$259,105,178,785

$2,159,209,823,208

1953

$266,071,061,639

$2,198,934,393,711

1954

$271,259,599,108

$2,223,439,336,951

1955

$274,374,222,803

$2,267,555,560,355

1956

$272,750,813,649

$2,217,486,289,829

1957

$270,527,171,896

$2,130,135,211,780

1958

$276,343,217,746

$2,109,490,211,802

1959

$284,705,907,078

$2,156,862,932,409

1960

$286,330,760,848

$2,136,796,722,746

1961

$288,970,938,610

$2,140,525,471,185

1962

$298,200,822,721

$2,176,648,341,029

1963

$305,859,632,996

$2,216,374,152,145

1964

$311,712,899,257

$2,226,520,708,979

1965

$317,273,898,984

$2,234,323,232,282

1966

$319,907,087,795

$2,191,144,436,952

1967

$326,220,937,795

$2,160,403,561,556

1968

$347,578,406,426

$2,213,875,200,166

1969

$353,720,253,841

$2,130,844,902,657

1970

$370,918,706,950

$2,119,535,468,286

1971

$398,129,744,456

$2,175,572,374,077

1972

$427,260,460,941

$2,260,637,359,476

1973

$458,141,605,312

$2,279,311,469,214

1974

$475,059,815,732

$2,130,313,075,031

1975

$533,189,000,000

$2,194,193,415,638

1976

$620,433,000,000

$2,414,136,186,770

1977

$698,840,000,000

$2,550,510,948,905

1978

$771,544,000,000

$2,615,403,389,831

1979

$826,519,000,000

$2,519,875,000,000

1980

$907,701,000,000

$2,433,514,745,308

1981

$997,855,000,000

$2,427,871,046,229

1982

$1,142,034,000,000

$2,619,344,036,697

1983

$1,377,210,000,000

$3,060,466,666,667

1984

$1,572,266,000,000

$3,345,246,808,511

1985

$1,823,103,000,000

$3,751,240,740,741

1986

$2,125,302,616,660

$4,293,540,639,717

1987

$2,350,276,890,950

$4,572,523,134,144

1988

$2,602,337,712,040

$4,864,182,639,327

1989

$2,857,430,960,190

$5,093,459,822,086

1990

$3,233,313,451,780

$5,470,919,546,159

1991

$3,665,303,351,700

$5,950,167,778,734

1992

$4,064,620,655,520

$6,411,073,589,148

1993

$4,411,488,883,140

$6,755,725,701,593

1994

$4,692,749,910,010

$7,004,104,343,299

1995

$4,973,982,900,710

$7,219,133,382,743

1996

$5,224,810,939,140

$7,369,267,897,236

1997

$5,413,146,011,400

$7,456,123,982,645

1998

$5,526,193,008,900

$7,498,226,606,377

1999

$5,656,270,901,620

$7,511,647,943,718

2000

$5,674,178,209,890

$7,293,288,187,519

2001

$5,807,463,412,200

$7,250,266,432,210

2002

$6,228,235,965,600

$7,660,806,845,756

2003

$6,783,231,062,740

$8,152,921,950,409

2004

$7,379,052,696,330

$8,640,576,927,787

2005

$7,932,709,661,720

$8,983,816,151,438

2006

$8,506,973,899,220

$9,338,061,360,285

2007

$9,007,653,372,260

$9,613,290,685,443

2008

$10,024,724,896,900

$10,302,903,285,612

2009

$11,909,829,003,500

$12,278,174,230,412

2010

$13,561,623,030,900

$13,754,181,572,921

2011

$14,790,340,328,557

$14,790,340,328,557

2012*

$15,712,206,657,200

$15,712,206,657,200

*2012 Fiscal Year is Ongoing



Source: TreasuryDirect.gov - Historical Debt Outstanding - Annual

Source: Oregon State University - Inflation Conversion Factors