Interest on the National Debt
What the U.S. government pays in interest on its debt, every year back to 1789 and every month from the Treasury, set against defense, Medicare and Social Security, with the interest rate it pays and how much of the rise came from more debt and how much from higher rates. Updated when the Treasury publishes new figures.
An estimate at the average rate of the past 12 months, not a live feed of payments
Jump to: Interest vs defense · Every year since 1789 · Look up a year · More debt or higher rates · Download the data · Sources
01Interest Against Defense, Medicare and Social Security
Every fiscal year since 1940, net interest set against three of the largest things the government pays for. For most of that time interest was a fraction of defense. It caught up in fiscal 2024, when net interest ($882 billion) passed national defense ($874 billion) for the first time in records going back to 1940. Medicare moved back ahead of interest after that; in fiscal 2026 Medicare was $1.07 trillion against $1.05 trillion for interest. Press play to watch the four lines from 1940, drag the slider to stop at any year, and switch to inflation-adjusted dollars or to each one's share of all federal spending.
Outlays in the fiscal year shown.
| Fiscal year | Net interest | National defense | Medicare | Social Security |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $1.05 trillion | $965.2 billion | $1.07 trillion | $1.67 trillion |
| 2025 | $970.4 billion | $916.6 billion | $996.7 billion | $1.58 trillion |
| 2024 | $881.7 billion | $874.0 billion | $874.1 billion | $1.46 trillion |
| 2023 | $659.2 billion | $820.7 billion | $847.5 billion | $1.35 trillion |
| 2022 | $475.1 billion | $766.7 billion | $755.1 billion | $1.22 trillion |
| 2021 | $352.3 billion | $754.8 billion | $696.5 billion | $1.13 trillion |
| 2020 | $344.7 billion | $726.2 billion | $776.2 billion | $1.10 trillion |
| 2019 | $375.6 billion | $687.6 billion | $651.0 billion | $1.04 trillion |
| 2018 | $324.7 billion | $664.7 billion | $588.7 billion | $987.8 billion |
| 2017 | $262.8 billion | $600.3 billion | $597.3 billion | $944.9 billion |
| 2016 | $240.7 billion | $595.3 billion | $594.5 billion | $916.1 billion |
| 2015 | $223.3 billion | $591.4 billion | $546.2 billion | $887.8 billion |
Budget functions 050 (national defense), 570 (Medicare), 650 (Social Security) and 900 (net interest). Medicare is net of the premiums beneficiaries pay. Fiscal years end Sept. 30 (June 30 before 1977). Sources: OMB Historical Table 3.1 to fiscal 2014, the Monthly Treasury Statement from fiscal 2015.
02Every Year Since 1789
Interest in dollars grows with the debt and with prices, so it makes most sense measured against the size of the economy or of the budget. As a share of the economy, net interest reached 3.2% in fiscal 2025, level with the earlier postwar high of 3.2% in 1991; its low since 1950 was 1.14% in 1959. As a share of federal spending, the high since 1940 was 15.4% in fiscal 1996, but in the early republic it was far higher: 63% of all federal spending went to interest in 1792.
Every year since 1789, in a table
| Fiscal year | Interest | Share of spending | Share of revenue | Share of GDP | Gross debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $1.052 trillion | 14.2% | 19.5% | - | $40.17 trillion |
| 2025 | $970 billion | 13.8% | 18.5% | 3.20% | $37.64 trillion |
| 2024 | $882 billion | 13.1% | 17.9% | 3.05% | $35.46 trillion |
| 2023 | $659 billion | 10.7% | 14.8% | 2.41% | $33.17 trillion |
| 2022 | $475 billion | 7.6% | 9.7% | 1.86% | $30.93 trillion |
| 2021 | $352 billion | 5.2% | 8.7% | 1.53% | $28.43 trillion |
| 2020 | $345 billion | 5.3% | 10.1% | 1.62% | $26.95 trillion |
| 2019 | $376 billion | 8.4% | 10.8% | 1.76% | $22.72 trillion |
| 2018 | $325 billion | 7.9% | 9.8% | 1.59% | $21.52 trillion |
| 2017 | $263 billion | 6.6% | 7.9% | 1.36% | $20.24 trillion |
| 2016 | $241 billion | 6.2% | 7.4% | 1.29% | $19.57 trillion |
| 2015 | $223 billion | 6.1% | 6.9% | 1.23% | $18.15 trillion |
| 2014 | $229 billion | 6.5% | 7.6% | 1.31% | $17.82 trillion |
| 2013 | $221 billion | 6.4% | 8.0% | 1.32% | $16.74 trillion |
| 2012 | $220 billion | 6.2% | 9.0% | 1.37% | $16.07 trillion |
| 2011 | $230 billion | 6.4% | 10.0% | 1.49% | $14.79 trillion |
| 2010 | $196 billion | 5.7% | 9.1% | 1.32% | $13.56 trillion |
| 2009 | $187 billion | 5.3% | 8.9% | 1.29% | $11.91 trillion |
| 2008 | $253 billion | 8.5% | 10.0% | 1.71% | $10.02 trillion |
| 2007 | $237 billion | 8.7% | 9.2% | 1.66% | $9.01 trillion |
| 2006 | $227 billion | 8.5% | 9.4% | 1.66% | $8.51 trillion |
| 2005 | $184 billion | 7.4% | 8.5% | 1.43% | $7.93 trillion |
| 2004 | $160 billion | 7.0% | 8.5% | 1.33% | $7.38 trillion |
| 2003 | $153 billion | 7.1% | 8.6% | 1.36% | $6.78 trillion |
| 2002 | $171 billion | 8.5% | 9.2% | 1.58% | $6.23 trillion |
| 2001 | $206 billion | 11.1% | 10.4% | 1.96% | $5.81 trillion |
| 2000 | $223 billion | 12.5% | 11.0% | 2.20% | $5.67 trillion |
| 1999 | $230 billion | 13.5% | 12.6% | 2.42% | $5.66 trillion |
| 1998 | $241 billion | 14.6% | 14.0% | 2.70% | $5.53 trillion |
| 1997 | $244 billion | 15.2% | 15.4% | 2.89% | $5.41 trillion |
| 1996 | $241 billion | 15.4% | 16.6% | 3.03% | $5.22 trillion |
| 1995 | $232 billion | 15.3% | 17.2% | 3.07% | $4.97 trillion |
| 1994 | $203 billion | 13.9% | 16.1% | 2.83% | $4.69 trillion |
| 1993 | $199 billion | 14.1% | 17.2% | 2.93% | $4.41 trillion |
| 1992 | $199 billion | 14.4% | 18.3% | 3.11% | $4.06 trillion |
| 1991 | $194 billion | 14.7% | 18.4% | 3.19% | $3.67 trillion |
| 1990 | $184 billion | 14.7% | 17.9% | 3.13% | $3.23 trillion |
| 1989 | $169 billion | 14.8% | 17.0% | 3.04% | $2.86 trillion |
| 1988 | $152 billion | 14.3% | 16.7% | 2.95% | $2.60 trillion |
| 1987 | $139 billion | 13.8% | 16.2% | 2.91% | $2.35 trillion |
| 1986 | $136 billion | 13.7% | 17.7% | 3.01% | $2.13 trillion |
| 1985 | $129 billion | 13.7% | 17.6% | 3.04% | $1.82 trillion |
| 1984 | $111 billion | 13.0% | 16.7% | 2.81% | $1.57 trillion |
| 1983 | $89.8 billion | 11.1% | 15.0% | 2.54% | $1.38 trillion |
| 1982 | $85.0 billion | 11.4% | 13.8% | 2.57% | $1.14 trillion |
| 1981 | $68.8 billion | 10.1% | 11.5% | 2.19% | $998 billion |
| 1980 | $52.5 billion | 8.9% | 10.2% | 1.88% | $908 billion |
| 1979 | $42.6 billion | 8.5% | 9.2% | 1.66% | $827 billion |
| 1978 | $35.5 billion | 7.7% | 8.9% | 1.56% | $772 billion |
| 1977 | $29.9 billion | 7.3% | 8.4% | 1.48% | $699 billion |
| 1976 | $26.7 billion | 7.2% | 9.0% | 1.50% | $620 billion |
| 1975 | $23.2 billion | 7.0% | 8.3% | 1.45% | $533 billion |
| 1974 | $21.4 billion | 8.0% | 8.1% | 1.45% | $475 billion |
| 1973 | $17.3 billion | 7.1% | 7.5% | 1.28% | $458 billion |
| 1972 | $15.5 billion | 6.7% | 7.5% | 1.27% | $427 billion |
| 1971 | $14.8 billion | 7.1% | 7.9% | 1.33% | $398 billion |
| 1970 | $14.4 billion | 7.3% | 7.5% | 1.37% | $371 billion |
| 1969 | $12.7 billion | 6.9% | 6.8% | 1.30% | $354 billion |
| 1968 | $11.1 billion | 6.2% | 7.2% | 1.24% | $348 billion |
| 1967 | $10.3 billion | 6.5% | 6.9% | 1.23% | $326 billion |
| 1966 | $9.39 billion | 7.0% | 7.2% | 1.20% | $320 billion |
| 1965 | $8.59 billion | 7.3% | 7.4% | 1.21% | $317 billion |
| 1964 | $8.20 billion | 6.9% | 7.3% | 1.24% | $312 billion |
| 1963 | $7.74 billion | 7.0% | 7.3% | 1.25% | $306 billion |
| 1962 | $6.89 billion | 6.4% | 6.9% | 1.18% | $298 billion |
| 1961 | $6.72 billion | 6.9% | 7.1% | 1.23% | $289 billion |
| 1960 | $6.95 billion | 7.5% | 7.5% | 1.30% | $286 billion |
| 1959 | $5.76 billion | 6.3% | 7.3% | 1.14% | $285 billion |
| 1958 | $5.60 billion | 6.8% | 7.0% | 1.18% | $276 billion |
| 1957 | $5.35 billion | 7.0% | 6.7% | 1.16% | $271 billion |
| 1956 | $5.08 billion | 7.2% | 6.8% | 1.16% | $273 billion |
| 1955 | $4.85 billion | 7.1% | 7.4% | 1.19% | $274 billion |
| 1954 | $4.81 billion | 6.8% | 6.9% | 1.24% | $271 billion |
| 1953 | $5.16 billion | 6.8% | 7.4% | 1.35% | $266 billion |
| 1952 | $4.70 billion | 6.9% | 7.1% | 1.32% | $259 billion |
| 1951 | $4.67 billion | 10.2% | 9.0% | 1.43% | $255 billion |
| 1950 | $4.81 billion | 11.3% | 12.2% | 1.73% | $257 billion |
| 1949 | $4.52 billion | 11.6% | 11.5% | 1.64% | $253 billion |
| 1948 | $4.34 billion | 14.6% | 10.4% | 1.66% | $252 billion |
| 1947 | $4.20 billion | 12.2% | 10.9% | 1.76% | $258 billion |
| 1946 | $4.11 billion | 7.4% | 10.5% | 1.80% | $269 billion |
| 1945 | $3.11 billion | 3.4% | 6.9% | 1.37% | $259 billion |
| 1944 | $2.22 billion | 2.4% | 5.1% | 1.04% | $201 billion |
| 1943 | $1.53 billion | 1.9% | 6.4% | 0.83% | $137 billion |
| 1942 | $1.05 billion | 3.0% | 7.2% | 0.71% | $72.4 billion |
| 1941 | $943 million | 6.9% | 10.8% | 0.81% | $49.0 billion |
| 1940 | $899 million | 9.5% | 13.7% | 0.92% | $43.0 billion |
| 1939 | $941 million | 10.6% | 18.9% | 1.04% | $40.4 billion |
| 1938 | $926 million | 13.7% | 16.6% | 1.03% | $37.2 billion |
| 1937 | $866 million | 11.2% | 17.5% | 0.97% | $36.4 billion |
| 1936 | $749 million | 8.9% | 18.7% | 0.94% | $33.8 billion |
| 1935 | $821 million | 12.6% | 22.2% | 1.16% | $28.7 billion |
| 1934 | $757 million | 11.4% | 25.1% | 1.22% | $27.1 billion |
| 1933 | $689 million | 15.0% | 34.5% | 1.18% | $22.5 billion |
| 1932 | $599 million | 12.9% | 31.1% | 0.87% | $19.5 billion |
| 1931 | $612 million | 17.1% | 19.6% | 0.72% | $16.8 billion |
| 1930 | $659 million | 19.9% | 16.2% | 0.67% | $16.2 billion |
| 1929 | $678 million | 21.7% | 17.6% | - | $16.9 billion |
| 1928 | $732 million | 24.7% | 18.8% | - | $17.6 billion |
| 1927 | $787 million | 27.5% | 19.6% | - | $18.5 billion |
| 1926 | $832 million | 28.4% | 21.9% | - | $19.6 billion |
| 1925 | $882 million | 30.2% | 24.2% | - | $20.5 billion |
| 1924 | $941 million | 32.3% | 24.3% | - | $21.3 billion |
| 1923 | $1.06 billion | 33.6% | 27.4% | - | $22.3 billion |
| 1922 | $991 million | 30.1% | 24.6% | - | $23.0 billion |
| 1921 | $999 million | 19.7% | 17.9% | - | $24.0 billion |
| 1920 | $1.02 billion | 16.0% | 15.3% | - | $26.0 billion |
| 1919 | $619 million | 3.3% | 12.1% | - | $27.4 billion |
| 1918 | $190 million | 1.5% | 5.2% | - | $14.6 billion |
| 1917 | $24.7 million | 1.3% | 2.2% | - | $5.72 billion |
| 1916 | $22.9 million | 3.2% | 3.0% | - | $3.61 billion |
| 1915 | $22.9 million | 3.1% | 3.4% | - | $3.06 billion |
| 1914 | $22.9 million | 3.2% | 3.2% | - | $2.91 billion |
| 1913 | $22.9 million | 3.2% | 3.2% | - | $2.92 billion |
| 1912 | $22.6 million | 3.3% | 3.3% | - | $2.87 billion |
| 1911 | $21.3 million | 3.1% | 3.0% | - | $2.77 billion |
| 1910 | $21.3 million | 3.1% | 3.2% | - | $2.65 billion |
| 1909 | $21.8 million | 3.1% | 3.6% | - | $2.64 billion |
| 1908 | $21.4 million | 3.3% | 3.6% | - | $2.63 billion |
| 1907 | $24.5 million | 4.2% | 3.7% | - | $2.46 billion |
| 1906 | $24.3 million | 4.3% | 4.1% | - | $2.34 billion |
| 1905 | $24.6 million | 4.3% | 4.5% | - | $2.27 billion |
| 1904 | $24.6 million | 4.2% | 4.6% | - | $2.26 billion |
| 1903 | $28.6 million | 5.5% | 5.1% | - | $2.20 billion |
| 1902 | $29.1 million | 6.0% | 5.2% | - | $2.16 billion |
| 1901 | $32.3 million | 6.2% | 5.5% | - | $2.14 billion |
| 1900 | $40.2 million | 7.7% | 7.1% | - | $2.14 billion |
| 1899 | $39.9 million | 6.6% | 7.7% | - | $1.99 billion |
| 1898 | $37.6 million | 8.5% | 9.3% | - | $1.80 billion |
| 1897 | $37.8 million | 10.3% | 10.9% | - | $1.82 billion |
| 1896 | $35.4 million | 10.0% | 10.5% | - | $1.77 billion |
| 1895 | $31.0 million | 8.7% | 9.5% | - | $1.68 billion |
| 1894 | $27.8 million | 7.6% | 9.1% | - | $1.63 billion |
| 1893 | $27.3 million | 7.1% | 7.1% | - | $1.55 billion |
| 1892 | $23.4 million | 6.8% | 6.6% | - | $1.59 billion |
| 1891 | $37.5 million | 10.3% | 9.6% | - | $1.55 billion |
| 1890 | $36.1 million | 11.4% | 9.0% | - | $1.55 billion |
| 1889 | $41.0 million | 13.7% | 10.6% | - | $1.62 billion |
| 1888 | $44.7 million | 16.7% | 11.8% | - | $1.69 billion |
| 1887 | $47.7 million | 17.8% | 12.9% | - | $1.66 billion |
| 1886 | $50.6 million | 20.9% | 15.0% | - | $1.78 billion |
| 1885 | $51.4 million | 19.7% | 15.9% | - | $1.86 billion |
| 1884 | $54.6 million | 22.4% | 15.7% | - | $1.83 billion |
| 1883 | $59.2 million | 22.3% | 14.9% | - | $1.88 billion |
| 1882 | $71.1 million | 27.6% | 17.6% | - | $1.92 billion |
| 1881 | $82.5 million | 31.6% | 22.9% | - | $2.07 billion |
| 1880 | $95.8 million | 35.8% | 28.7% | - | $2.12 billion |
| 1879 | $105 million | 39.5% | 38.5% | - | $2.35 billion |
| 1878 | $103 million | 43.3% | 39.8% | - | $2.26 billion |
| 1877 | $97.1 million | 40.2% | 34.5% | - | $2.21 billion |
| 1876 | $100 million | 37.8% | 34.1% | - | $2.18 billion |
| 1875 | $103 million | 37.5% | 35.8% | - | $2.23 billion |
| 1874 | $107 million | 35.4% | 35.1% | - | $2.25 billion |
| 1873 | $105 million | 36.1% | 31.4% | - | $2.23 billion |
| 1872 | $117 million | 42.3% | 31.4% | - | $2.25 billion |
| 1871 | $126 million | 43.0% | 32.8% | - | $2.35 billion |
| 1870 | $129 million | 41.7% | 31.4% | - | $2.48 billion |
| 1869 | $131 million | 40.5% | 35.2% | - | $2.59 billion |
| 1868 | $140 million | 37.2% | 34.6% | - | $2.61 billion |
| 1867 | $144 million | 40.2% | 29.3% | - | $2.68 billion |
| 1866 | $133 million | 25.6% | 23.8% | - | $2.77 billion |
| 1865 | $77.4 million | 6.0% | 23.2% | - | $2.68 billion |
| 1864 | $53.7 million | 6.2% | 20.3% | - | $1.82 billion |
| 1863 | $24.7 million | 3.5% | 21.9% | - | $1.12 billion |
| 1862 | $13.2 million | 2.8% | 25.4% | - | $524 million |
| 1861 | $4.0 million | 6.0% | 9.6% | - | $90.6 million |
| 1860 | $3.2 million | 5.0% | 5.7% | - | $64.8 million |
| 1859 | $2.6 million | 3.8% | 4.9% | - | $58.5 million |
| 1858 | $1.6 million | 2.1% | 3.4% | - | $44.9 million |
| 1857 | $1.7 million | 2.5% | 2.4% | - | $28.7 million |
| 1856 | $2.0 million | 2.8% | 2.6% | - | $32.0 million |
| 1855 | $2.3 million | 3.9% | 3.5% | - | $35.6 million |
| 1854 | $3.1 million | 5.3% | 4.2% | - | $42.2 million |
| 1853 | $3.7 million | 7.6% | 5.9% | - | $59.8 million |
| 1852 | $4.0 million | 9.1% | 8.0% | - | $66.2 million |
| 1851 | $3.7 million | 7.7% | 7.0% | - | $68.3 million |
| 1850 | $3.8 million | 9.6% | 8.7% | - | $63.5 million |
| 1849 | $3.6 million | 7.9% | 11.4% | - | $63.1 million |
| 1848 | $2.4 million | 5.3% | 6.7% | - | $47.0 million |
| 1847 | $1.1 million | 2.0% | 4.2% | - | $38.8 million |
| 1846 | $843,000 | 3.0% | 2.8% | - | $15.6 million |
| 1845 | $1.0 million | 4.5% | 3.5% | - | $15.9 million |
| 1844 | $1.8 million | 8.2% | 6.3% | - | $23.5 million |
| 1843 | $524,000 | 4.4% | 6.3% | - | $32.7 million |
| 1842 | $774,000 | 3.1% | 3.9% | - | $20.2 million |
| 1841 | $285,000 | 1.1% | 1.7% | - | $13.6 million |
| 1840 | $175,000 | 0.7% | 0.9% | - | $5.3 million |
| 1839 | $400,000 | 1.5% | 1.3% | - | $3.6 million |
| 1838 | $15,000 | 0.0% | 0.1% | - | $10.4 million |
| 1837 | $0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | - | $3.3 million |
| 1836 | $0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | - | $337,000 |
| 1835 | $58,000 | 0.3% | 0.2% | - | $38,000 |
| 1834 | $202,000 | 1.1% | 0.9% | - | $34,000 |
| 1833 | $304,000 | 1.3% | 0.9% | - | $4.8 million |
| 1832 | $773,000 | 4.5% | 2.4% | - | $7.0 million |
| 1831 | $1.4 million | 9.1% | 4.9% | - | $24.3 million |
| 1830 | $1.9 million | 12.6% | 7.7% | - | $39.1 million |
| 1829 | $2.5 million | 16.7% | 10.2% | - | $48.6 million |
| 1828 | $3.1 million | 18.9% | 12.5% | - | $58.4 million |
| 1827 | $3.5 million | 21.6% | 15.2% | - | $67.5 million |
| 1826 | $4.0 million | 23.3% | 15.7% | - | $74.0 million |
| 1825 | $4.4 million | 27.5% | 20.0% | - | $81.1 million |
| 1824 | $5.0 million | 24.6% | 25.8% | - | $83.8 million |
| 1823 | $4.9 million | 33.5% | 24.0% | - | $90.3 million |
| 1822 | $5.2 million | 34.5% | 25.6% | - | $90.9 million |
| 1821 | $5.1 million | 32.2% | 34.9% | - | $93.5 million |
| 1820 | $5.1 million | 28.1% | 28.7% | - | $90.0 million |
| 1819 | $5.2 million | 24.1% | 21.0% | - | $91.0 million |
| 1818 | $6.0 million | 30.3% | 27.9% | - | $95.5 million |
| 1817 | $6.4 million | 29.2% | 19.3% | - | $103 million |
| 1816 | $7.2 million | 23.6% | 15.1% | - | $123 million |
| 1815 | $5.8 million | 17.6% | 36.6% | - | $127 million |
| 1814 | $4.6 million | 13.2% | 41.1% | - | $99.8 million |
| 1813 | $3.6 million | 11.4% | 25.1% | - | $81.5 million |
| 1812 | $2.5 million | 12.1% | 25.0% | - | $56.0 million |
| 1811 | $2.5 million | 30.6% | 17.1% | - | $45.2 million |
| 1810 | $2.8 million | 34.9% | 30.3% | - | $48.0 million |
| 1809 | $2.9 million | 27.9% | 36.9% | - | $53.2 million |
| 1808 | $3.4 million | 34.5% | 20.1% | - | $57.0 million |
| 1807 | $3.4 million | 40.3% | 20.6% | - | $65.2 million |
| 1806 | $3.7 million | 38.0% | 23.9% | - | $69.2 million |
| 1805 | $4.1 million | 39.5% | 30.6% | - | $75.7 million |
| 1804 | $4.3 million | 48.9% | 36.1% | - | $82.3 million |
| 1803 | $3.8 million | 49.0% | 34.8% | - | $86.4 million |
| 1802 | $4.1 million | 52.5% | 27.5% | - | $77.1 million |
| 1801 | $4.4 million | 47.0% | 34.1% | - | $80.7 million |
| 1800 | $3.4 million | 31.3% | 31.1% | - | $83.0 million |
| 1799 | $3.2 million | 33.0% | 42.2% | - | $83.0 million |
| 1798 | $3.1 million | 39.8% | 38.6% | - | $78.4 million |
| 1797 | $3.3 million | 53.8% | 38.0% | - | $79.2 million |
| 1796 | $3.2 million | 55.8% | 38.1% | - | $82.1 million |
| 1795 | $3.2 million | 42.3% | 52.2% | - | $83.8 million |
| 1794 | $3.5 million | 49.9% | 64.2% | - | $80.7 million |
| 1793 | $2.8 million | 61.8% | 59.6% | - | $78.4 million |
| 1792 | $3.2 million | 63.0% | 87.2% | - | $80.4 million |
| 1789-91 | $2.3 million | 55.0% | 53.2% | - | $77.2 million |
From 1940: net interest (budget function 900). Before 1940: interest on the public debt. Share of GDP uses GDP by fiscal year, which begins in 1930. Inflation-adjusted figures use the consumer price index from 1913.
03Month by Month
The Monthly Treasury Statement reports net interest each month. Single months move around for accounting reasons rather than because of when coupons are paid: the budget records interest on Treasury securities as it accrues, the inflation adjustment on Treasury inflation-protected securities moves with each month's consumer price index, and the interest the government receives, which net interest subtracts, does not come in evenly. The line shows the average month over the past year, which smooths that out.
04Gross Interest, and How Much Goes to the Trust Funds
The Treasury's own interest expense counts everything it owes on its securities. In the 12 months to October 2026 that was $1.37 trillion: $1.08 trillion on securities held by the public, including the Federal Reserve and foreign governments, and $292 billion credited to federal trust funds such as Social Security, Medicare and civil service retirement. The trust-fund interest is one part of the government paying another, which is why the budget's net interest figure leaves it out.
Interest expense on the debt outstanding, Treasury Fiscal Data, by month from May 2010. Interest on public issues is on an accrual basis; trust-fund interest is mostly credited in June and December.
05The Interest Rate on the Debt
The Treasury publishes the average rate on everything it has borrowed. That average was 6.59% in January 2001, fell to a low of 1.56% in January 2022 after years of near-zero short-term rates, and was 3.58% in October 2026. It moves slowly: Treasury bills reprice within a year, but most notes and bonds keep their fixed rate until they mature, some of them decades away. The dotted line is the effective rate on debt held by the public, net interest divided by the average debt held by the public during the year, which goes back further.
Average interest rates on U.S. Treasury securities, monthly, from Treasury Fiscal Data. Effective rate: DaveManuel.com calculation from net interest and fiscal-year-end debt held by the public (Treasury Debt to the Penny from 1993; FRED before). Because net interest also subtracts other interest the government earns, the effective rate slightly understates the rate paid.
06Why the Bill Changed: More Debt or Higher Rates
Interest is roughly the debt multiplied by the rate paid on it, so each year's change can be split into the part that came from carrying more debt and the part that came from a different effective rate. The effective rate here is net interest divided by the average of the debt held by the public at the start and end of the fiscal year, so besides the rates the Treasury pays it also picks up anything else that moves net interest, such as inflation adjustments on inflation-protected securities and changes in the interest the government earns. From fiscal 2021 to 2026, net interest rose by $699 billion: about $269 billion from more debt and $431 billion from a higher effective rate. The years before had worked the other way: from fiscal 2007 to 2021 the debt held by the public more than quadrupled, yet a falling effective rate took $261 billion off the bill and held the increase to $115 billion.
DaveManuel.com calculation. Effective rate = net interest / the average of the debt held by the public at the start and end of the fiscal year. Each year's change is split evenly between the two effects (the average of measuring the debt effect at the old rate and at the new rate), so the two parts add up to the actual change.
07Two Centuries of Interest
The United States began in debt, and for its first years interest was the biggest thing the federal government paid for. Under the Funding Act of 1790, Alexander Hamilton's plan, the new government took over the states' Revolutionary War debts as well as its own. In its first accounting period, from March 1789 to the end of 1791, interest took 55% of all federal spending. In 1792 it took 63%, the highest share in the nation's history. It was still close to a third of spending in 1800.
Then the debt was paid off. By January 1835, under Andrew Jackson, the government owed less than $34,000, and in 1836 and 1837 it paid no interest at all, the only years in the nation's history when that was true. Borrowing resumed after the Panic of 1837, and the debt has never been paid off since.
Wars built the debt up, but interest took its biggest share of the budget after them, not during them. In the Civil War, war spending swamped everything else, and interest was only 2.8% of outlays in 1862 and 6.0% in 1865. Once the armies went home, the debt stayed: it stood at $2.8 billion after fiscal 1866, interest reached $144 million in 1867, and its share of spending ran at 40% in 1867 and 43% in 1871. World War I followed the same pattern: 1.5% of spending in 1918, then 34% in 1923, when interest reached about $1.06 billion on a debt that had peaked at $27.4 billion in 1919.
The 1920s ran surpluses that cut the debt from $26.0 billion in 1920 to $16.2 billion in 1930, and interest fell with it. In the 1930s the debt grew again, but New Deal spending grew faster, so interest's share fell to between about 9% and 14% in the late 1930s.
World War II was different. At the Treasury's request, the Federal Reserve pegged interest rates from April 1942, at 3/8% on Treasury bills with long-term bonds capped around 2.5%, so the government borrowed for the war at low fixed rates. The debt rose from $43.0 billion in 1940 to $269.4 billion in 1946, yet net interest only went from 0.9% of GDP to 1.8%. The bill peg was lifted in 1947, and the cap on long-term rates ended with the Treasury-Fed Accord of March 1951. The next big climb came when inflation pushed rates to record highs around 1980 and deficits grew through the decade, taking net interest from 1.9% of GDP in 1980 toward the highs of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Budget deals in 1990 and 1993 and the surpluses of 1998 to 2001 brought it down, and near-zero rates after 2008 and again in 2020 held it down even as the debt soared, until the Federal Reserve began raising rates in March 2022.
Before 1940 the figures are interest on the public debt as reported by the Treasury, which counts all interest paid, and total outlays and receipts on the accounting of the time; from 1940 they are net interest on the modern budget basis, which is smaller (in fiscal 1940, $899 million net against about $1.04 billion gross). Fiscal years before 1843 are calendar years; the first period runs from March 4, 1789 to Dec. 31, 1791 and is shown as 1789-91; fiscal 1843 is a half year.
08Records
Highest as a share of GDP
| Fiscal year | Net interest | Share of GDP |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $970.4 billion | 3.20% |
| 1991 | $194.4 billion | 3.19% |
| 1990 | $184.3 billion | 3.13% |
| 1992 | $199.3 billion | 3.11% |
| 1995 | $232.1 billion | 3.07% |
| 2024 | $881.7 billion | 3.05% |
| 1989 | $169.0 billion | 3.04% |
| 1985 | $129.5 billion | 3.04% |
| 1996 | $241.1 billion | 3.03% |
| 1986 | $136.0 billion | 3.01% |
Highest as a share of spending, since 1940
| Fiscal year | Net interest | Share of spending |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | $241.1 billion | 15.4% |
| 1995 | $232.1 billion | 15.3% |
| 1997 | $244.0 billion | 15.2% |
| 1989 | $169.0 billion | 14.8% |
| 1990 | $184.3 billion | 14.7% |
| 1991 | $194.4 billion | 14.7% |
| 1998 | $241.1 billion | 14.6% |
| 1948 | $4.3 billion | 14.6% |
| 1992 | $199.3 billion | 14.4% |
| 1988 | $151.8 billion | 14.3% |
Biggest one-year increases
| Fiscal year | Increase | Change | Net interest that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $222.5 billion | +33.7% | $881.7 billion |
| 2023 | $184.1 billion | +38.7% | $659.2 billion |
| 2022 | $122.9 billion | +34.9% | $475.1 billion |
| 2025 | $88.7 billion | +10.1% | $970.4 billion |
| 2026 | $81.4 billion | +8.4% | $1.05 trillion |
| 2018 | $61.9 billion | +23.6% | $324.7 billion |
| 2019 | $50.9 billion | +15.7% | $375.6 billion |
| 2006 | $42.6 billion | +23.2% | $226.6 billion |
Share of GDP from fiscal 1930, using GDP by fiscal year (published through fiscal 2025). Increases are in dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation.
09Look Up Any Year
Pick a fiscal year from 1789 to 2026 to see what the government paid in interest, what share of the budget and the economy that was, and how it compared with the year before.
10How This Page Works
The main figure is net interest, budget function 900 in the federal budget: the interest the Treasury pays on its securities, minus interest credited to federal trust funds (one part of the government paying another) and minus interest the government earns, mainly on loans such as student loans. It is the measure the Office of Management and Budget uses in its historical tables and the Treasury uses in the Monthly Treasury Statement. Two other measures appear in the news. The Treasury's gross interest expense (section 04) includes the trust-fund interest and is larger. The Congressional Budget Office's Monthly Budget Review reports a separate measure, net interest on the public debt, which leaves out the other interest the government earns, so it sits between the two (CBO's budget totals use the same net interest figure as this page); on that measure interest passed $1 trillion a year earlier than on the budget measure used here. Interest paid on Treasury securities held by the Federal Reserve is counted in net interest; most of it has historically come back to the Treasury as the Fed's remittances, which the budget books as revenue, but those remittances were suspended from late 2022 while the Fed booked its losses as a deferred asset.
Fiscal years run from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 (from July 1 to June 30 until 1976, with a three-month transition quarter from July to September 1976 that is left out of the yearly figures, and calendar years before 1843). Figures for fiscal 1940 to 2014 come from OMB Historical Table 3.1, and from fiscal 2015 from the September Monthly Treasury Statement each year, which the Treasury sometimes revises slightly in later statements. Figures before 1940 are interest on the public debt, total outlays and receipts as published in the Treasury's Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury for fiscal 1975 (Statistical Appendix, Table 2), checked against the fiscal 1973 and 1969 editions and the Census Bureau's Historical Statistics of the United States, 1789-1945; they are not adjusted to the modern budget definitions and should be read as close, not exact. Share of GDP uses OMB's GDP by fiscal year, from fiscal 1930, and inflation-adjusted dollars use the consumer price index (CPI-U), from 1913, in fiscal 2026 dollars.
Data through September 2026 (Monthly Treasury Statement) and October 2026 (interest rates); Debt to the Penny November 9, 2026. Page data last changed November 11, 2026.
11Frequently Asked Questions
How much does the U.S. pay in interest on the national debt?
Net interest came to $1.05 trillion in the 12 months to September 2026, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement: about $2.9 billion a day, or 14.2% of everything the federal government spent. Treasury's gross figure, which also counts interest credited to federal trust funds such as Social Security, is larger.
Is interest now bigger than defense spending?
Net interest first exceeded national defense outlays in fiscal 2024, the first time in the budget records that begin in 1940. In fiscal 2026 interest was $1.05 trillion and defense $965 billion.
What is the difference between net interest and gross interest?
Gross interest is everything the Treasury owes on its securities, including interest credited to federal trust funds such as Social Security and Medicare, which is money moving from one government account to another. Net interest, the budget figure used on this page, leaves that out and also subtracts interest the government earns, for example on student loans, so it measures what borrowing costs taxpayers.
Why did interest costs jump after 2021?
Two reasons at once: the debt kept growing, and the Federal Reserve raised short-term interest rates from near zero in March 2022 to more than 5% by July 2023, so maturing Treasury securities were refinanced at much higher rates. Section 06 splits each year's change into the part from more debt and the part from a higher effective rate.
What interest rate does the government pay on its debt?
The average rate on all interest-bearing Treasury debt was 3.58% at the end of October 2026, according to the Treasury. It bottomed at 1.56% in January 2022. The average moves slowly because most of the debt was borrowed years ago at fixed rates and only rolls over as each security matures.
How often is this page updated?
It checks for new data every day and updates when the Treasury publishes the Monthly Treasury Statement, usually on the eighth business day of the month, and the monthly average interest rates.
12Sources
- U.S. Treasury, Fiscal Data: Monthly Treasury Statement (Table 9, receipts and outlays by function)
- U.S. Treasury, Fiscal Data: Interest Expense on the Debt Outstanding
- U.S. Treasury, Fiscal Data: Average Interest Rates on U.S. Treasury Securities
- U.S. Treasury, Fiscal Data: Historical Debt Outstanding and Debt to the Penny
- Office of Management and Budget: Historical Tables (Table 3.1, outlays by function)
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED: federal outlays (FYONET), receipts (FYFR), GDP by fiscal year (FYGDP), debt held by the public (FYGFDPUN) and CPI-U (CPIAUCNS)
- U.S. Treasury: Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, fiscal 1975, Statistical Appendix, Table 2 (receipts and outlays, 1789-1975), via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis's FRASER archive
- U.S. Census Bureau: Historical Statistics of the United States, 1789-1945, chapter P (federal finances)
- Congressional Budget Office: Federal Net Interest Costs, A Primer (2020)
- Federal Reserve History: The Treasury-Fed Accord
Related: U.S. national debt clock · Biggest foreign holders of U.S. debt · Historical mortgage rates · Jobs added by month and by president
Cite This Page
This page is free to cite and link. Its figures come from U.S. Treasury (Monthly Treasury Statement, interest expense on the debt outstanding, average interest rates, historical debt outstanding, Debt to the Penny), OMB Historical Table 3.1, FRED, and the Treasury Annual Report for fiscal 1975 (1789-1939); calculations by DaveManuel.com and are kept current, so please include the date you accessed it.
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| APA | Manuel, D. (2026). Interest on the National Debt: What the U.S. Pays, Every Year Since 1789. DaveManuel.com. Retrieved November 10, 2026, from https://www.davemanuel.com/interest-on-the-national-debt.php | Copy |
| Chicago | Manuel, Dave. “Interest on the National Debt: What the U.S. Pays, Every Year Since 1789.” DaveManuel.com. Accessed November 10, 2026. https://www.davemanuel.com/interest-on-the-national-debt.php. | Copy |
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Source data: U.S. Treasury (Monthly Treasury Statement, interest expense on the debt outstanding, average interest rates, historical debt outstanding, Debt to the Penny), OMB Historical Table 3.1, FRED, and the Treasury Annual Report for fiscal 1975 (1789-1939); calculations by DaveManuel.com. Updates: Monthly, with each Monthly Treasury Statement. How we build our data pages.