A History of Debt in the United States



RisingOn 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 1791-2018


YearNominal DollarsReal Dollars (2019)
1791$75,463,477$1,985,880,974
1792$77,227,925$2,032,313,816
1793$80,358,634$2,008,965,850
1794$78,427,405$1,782,441,023
1795$80,747,587$1,614,951,740
1796$83,762,172$1,580,418,340
1797$82,064,479$1,609,107,431
1798$79,228,529$1,616,908,755
1799$78,408,670$1,600,176,939
1800$82,976,294$1,659,525,880
1801$83,038,051$1,628,197,078
1802$80,712,632$1,877,037,953
1803$77,054,686$1,712,326,356
1804$86,427,121$1,838,874,915
1805$82,312,151$1,751,322,362
1806$75,723,271$1,545,372,878
1807$69,218,399$1,504,747,804
1808$65,196,318$1,303,926,360
1809$57,023,192$1,163,738,612
1810$53,173,218$1,085,167,714
1811$48,005,588$923,184,385
1812$45,209,738$853,013,925
1813$55,962,828$874,419,188
1814$81,487,846$1,164,112,086
1815$99,833,660$1,610,220,323
1816$127,334,934$2,273,838,107
1817$123,491,965$2,330,037,075
1818$103,466,634$2,028,757,529
1819$95,529,648$1,873,130,353
1820$91,015,566$1,936,501,404
1821$89,987,428$1,999,720,622
1822$93,546,677$1,990,354,830
1823$90,875,877$2,163,711,357
1824$90,269,778$2,314,609,692
1825$83,788,433$2,094,710,825
1826$81,054,060$2,026,351,500
1827$73,987,357$1,849,683,925
1828$67,475,044$1,775,659,053
1829$58,421,414$1,578,957,135
1830$48,565,407$1,312,578,568
1831$39,123,192$1,117,805,486
1832$24,322,235$715,359,853
1833$7,001,699$205,932,324
1834$4,760,082$140,002,412
1835$33,733$963,800
1836$37,513$1,013,865
1837$336,958$8,867,316
1838$3,308,124$89,408,757
1839$10,434,221$282,005,973
1840$3,573,344$102,095,543
1841$5,250,876$150,025,029
1842$13,594,481$411,953,970
1843$32,742,922$1,091,430,733
1843$20,201,226$673,374,200
1844$23,461,653$782,055,100
1845$15,925,303$530,843,433
1846$15,550,203$501,619,452
1847$38,826,535$1,176,561,667
1848$47,044,862$1,470,151,938
1849$63,061,859$2,034,253,516
1850$63,452,774$2,046,863,677
1851$68,304,796$2,203,380,516
1852$66,199,342$2,135,462,645
1853$59,803,118$1,929,132,839
1854$42,242,222$1,242,418,294
1855$35,586,957$1,016,770,200
1856$31,972,538$940,368,765
1857$28,699,832$819,995,200
1858$44,911,881$1,360,966,091
1859$58,496,838$1,772,631,455
1860$64,842,288$1,964,917,818
1861$90,580,874$2,588,024,971
1862$524,176,412$13,104,410,300
1863$1,119,772,139$22,395,442,780
1864$1,815,784,371$28,821,974,143
1865$2,680,647,870$41,240,736,462
1866$2,773,236,174$43,331,815,219
1867$2,678,126,104$45,391,967,864
1868$2,611,687,851$45,819,085,105
1869$2,588,452,214$47,934,300,259
1870$2,480,672,428$47,705,239,000
1871$2,353,211,332$48,024,721,061
1872$2,253,251,329$45,984,721,000
1873$2,234,482,993$46,551,729,021
1874$2,251,690,468$48,949,792,783
1875$2,232,284,532$50,733,739,364
1876$2,180,395,067$50,706,862,023
1877$2,205,301,392$52,507,176,000
1878$2,256,205,893$56,405,147,325
1879$2,349,567,482$58,739,187,050
1880$2,120,415,371$51,717,448,073
1881$2,069,013,570$50,463,745,610
1882$1,918,312,994$46,788,121,805
1883$1,884,171,728$47,104,293,200
1884$1,830,528,924$46,936,639,077
1885$1,863,964,873$47,793,971,103
1886$1,775,063,014$46,712,184,579
1887$1,657,602,593$43,621,120,868
1888$1,692,858,985$44,548,920,658
1889$1,619,052,922$43,758,187,081
1890$1,552,140,205$43,115,005,694
1891$1,545,996,592$42,944,349,778
1892$1,588,464,145$44,124,004,028
1893$1,545,985,686$42,944,046,833
1894$1,632,253,637$48,007,459,912
1895$1,676,120,983$49,297,675,971
1896$1,769,840,323$52,054,127,147
1897$1,817,672,666$55,080,989,879
1898$1,796,531,996$54,440,363,515
1899$1,991,927,307$60,361,433,545
1900$2,136,961,092$62,851,796,824
1901$2,143,326,934$63,039,027,471
1902$2,158,610,446$63,488,542,529
1903$2,202,464,782$62,927,565,200
1904$2,264,003,585$62,888,988,472
1905$2,274,615,064$64,989,001,829
1906$2,337,161,839$64,921,162,194
1907$2,457,188,062$64,662,843,737
1908$2,626,806,272$70,994,764,108
1909$2,639,546,241$73,320,728,917
1910$2,652,665,838$69,806,995,737
1911$2,765,600,607$72,778,963,342
1912$2,868,373,874$73,548,048,051
1913$2,916,204,914$72,905,122,850
1914$2,912,499,269$72,812,481,725
1915$3,058,136,873$76,453,421,825
1916$3,609,244,262$82,028,278,682
1917$5,717,770,280$112,113,142,745
1918$14,592,161,414$243,202,690,233
1919$27,390,970,113$396,970,581,348
1920$25,952,456,406$324,405,705,075
1921$23,977,450,553$333,020,146,569
1922$22,963,381,708$342,737,040,418
1923$22,349,707,365$328,672,167,132
1924$21,250,812,989$312,511,955,721
1925$20,516,193,888$293,088,484,114
1926$19,643,216,315$276,665,018,521
1927$18,511,906,932$264,455,813,314
1928$17,604,293,201$258,886,664,721
1929$16,931,088,484$248,986,595,353
1930$16,185,309,831$241,571,788,522
1931$16,801,281,492$275,430,844,131
1932$19,487,002,444$354,309,135,345
1933$22,538,672,560$433,436,010,769
1934$27,053,141,414$500,984,100,259
1935$28,700,892,625$521,834,411,364
1936$33,778,543,494$603,188,276,679
1937$36,424,613,732$628,010,581,586
1938$37,164,740,315$663,656,077,054
1939$40,439,532,411$722,134,507,339
1940$42,967,531,038$767,277,339,964
1941$48,961,443,536$829,854,975,186
1942$72,422,445,116$1,114,191,463,323
1943$136,696,090,330$1,981,102,758,406
1944$201,003,387,221$2,871,476,960,300
1945$258,682,187,410$3,592,808,158,472
1946$269,422,099,173$3,454,129,476,577
1947$258,286,383,109$2,902,094,192,236
1948$252,292,246,513$2,628,044,234,510
1949$252,770,359,860$2,660,740,630,105
1950$257,357,352,351$2,680,805,753,656
1951$255,221,976,815$2,454,057,469,375
1952$259,105,178,785$2,444,388,479,104
1953$266,071,061,639$2,486,645,435,879
1954$271,259,599,108$2,511,662,954,704
1955$274,374,222,803$2,564,245,072,925
1956$272,750,813,649$2,502,301,042,651
1957$270,527,171,896$2,415,421,177,643
1958$276,343,217,746$2,382,269,118,500
1959$284,705,907,078$2,454,361,267,914
1960$286,330,760,848$2,426,531,871,593
1961$288,970,938,610$2,408,091,155,083
1962$298,200,822,721$2,464,469,609,264
1963$305,859,632,996$2,507,046,172,098
1964$311,712,899,257$2,513,813,703,685
1965$317,273,898,984$2,518,046,817,333
1966$319,907,087,795$2,460,823,752,269
1967$326,220,937,795$2,434,484,610,410
1968$347,578,406,426$2,500,564,075,007
1969$353,720,253,841$2,406,260,230,211
1970$370,918,706,950$2,393,023,915,806
1971$398,129,744,456$2,457,591,015,160
1972$427,260,460,941$2,558,445,873,898
1973$458,141,605,312$2,573,829,243,326
1974$475,059,815,732$2,411,471,145,848
1975$533,189,000,000$2,479,948,837,209
1976$620,433,000,000$2,721,197,368,421
1977$698,840,000,000$2,887,768,595,041
1978$771,544,000,000$2,956,107,279,693
1979$826,519,000,000$2,850,065,517,241
1980$907,701,000,000$2,758,969,604,863
1981$997,855,000,000$2,748,911,845,730
1982$1,142,034,000,000$2,958,637,305,699
1983$1,377,210,000,000$3,460,326,633,166
1984$1,572,266,000,000$3,788,592,771,084
1985$1,823,103,000,000$4,239,774,418,605
1986$2,125,302,616,660$4,852,289,079,132
1987$2,350,276,890,950$5,176,821,345,705
1988$2,602,337,712,040$5,501,771,061,395
1989$2,857,430,960,190$5,760,949,516,512
1990$3,233,313,451,780$6,182,243,693,652
1991$3,665,303,351,700$6,725,327,250,826
1992$4,064,620,655,520$7,245,313,111,444
1993$4,411,488,883,140$7,632,333,707,855
1994$4,692,749,910,010$7,913,574,890,405
1995$4,973,982,900,710$8,167,459,607,077
1996$5,224,810,939,140$8,333,031,800,861
1997$5,413,146,011,400$8,431,691,606,542
1998$5,526,193,008,900$8,475,756,148,620
1999$5,656,270,901,620$8,492,899,251,682
2000$5,674,178,209,890$8,235,382,017,257
2001$5,807,463,412,200$8,202,631,938,136
2002$6,228,235,965,600$8,662,358,783,866
2003$6,783,231,062,740$9,216,346,552,636
2004$7,379,052,696,330$9,773,579,730,238
2005$7,932,709,661,720$10,157,118,644,968
2006$8,506,973,899,220$10,554,558,187,618
2007$9,007,653,372,260$10,865,685,611,894
2008$10,024,724,896,900$11,643,118,347,155
2009$11,909,829,003,500$13,880,919,584,499
2010$13,561,623,030,900$15,552,319,989,564
2011$14,790,340,328,557$16,451,991,466,693
2012$16,066,241,407,385$17,501,352,295,626
2013$16,738,183,526,697$17,978,714,851,447
2014$17,824,071,380,733$18,821,617,086,307
2015$18,150,617,666,484$19,146,221,167,177
2016$19,573,444,713,936$20,389,004,910,350
2017$20,244,900,016,053$20,658,061,240,870
2018$21,516,058,183,180$21,733,392,104,222
2019$30$30

*2019 Fiscal Year is Ongoing



Source: TreasuryDirect.gov - Historical Debt Outstanding - Annual

Source: Oregon State University - Inflation Conversion Factors