US Debt: Visualizing The $31.4 Trillion Owed In 2023
Can you picture what $31.4 trillion looks like?
The enormity of U.S. government debt is hard for the average person to wrap their head around. For instance, compared to the median U.S. mortgage, the current level of federal debt is 230 million times larger.
In this graphic, Visual Capitalist’s Julie Peasley shows how many one-dollar bills it would take to stack up to the total U.S. debt of $31.4 trillion.
The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower is servant to the lender.” Proverbs 22:7
How Did U.S. Debt Get So High?
U.S. national debt is how much money the federal government owes to creditors. When the government spends more than it earns, it has a budget deficit and must issue debt in the form of Treasury securities.
The U.S. has run a deficit for the last 20 years, substantially increasing the national debt. In fact, according to the Department of the Treasury, the current debt is $31.4 trillion.
Stacked up in one-dollar bills, the U.S. debt would be equivalent to almost eight of Chicago’s 110-story Willis Tower.
| Year | Outstanding Debt | Year-Over-Year Increase |
|---|---|---|
| 2023* | $31.4T | 2% |
| 2022 | $30.9T | 9% |
| 2021 | $28.4T | 6% |
| 2020 | $26.9T | 19% |
| 2019 | $22.7T | 6% |
| 2018 | $21.5T | 6% |
| 2017 | $20.2T | 3% |
| 2016 | $19.6T | 8% |
| 2015 | $18.2T | 2% |
| 2014 | $17.8T | 6% |
| 2013 | $16.7T | 4% |
| 2012 | $16.1T | 9% |
| 2011 | $14.8T | 9% |
| 2010 | $13.6T | 14% |
| 2009 | $11.9T | 19% |
| 2008 | $10.0T | 11% |
| 2007 | $9.0T | 6% |
| 2006 | $8.5T | 7% |
| 2005 | $7.9T | 8% |
| 2004 | $7.4T | 9% |
| 2003 | $6.8T | 9% |
| 2002 | $6.2T | 7% |
| 2001 | $5.8T | 2% |
| 2000 | $5.7T | 0% |
Source: Fiscal Data. Debt for 2023 is as of January, with the year-over-year increase reflecting the growth from October 2022 to January 2023. October is the start of the fiscal year for the U.S. government. Debt includes both debt held by the public and intragovernmental holdings.
The last time the government had a surplus was in 2001, when debt rose only 2% due to interest costs. Since then, the largest jumps in U.S. debt have been during the Global Financial Crisis—which saw three straight years of double-digit growth rates—and in 2020 due to trillions of dollars of COVID-19 stimulus.
U.S. federal debt rises during recessions because government revenue, primarily composed of taxes, decreases. At the same time, the government increases spending to help stimulate an economic recovery.
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