Tax Policy Center

Fiscal Facts

March 5, 2018
Annual U.S. Debt Held by the Public
Fact: 
The federal debt held by the public was $14.6 trillion in 2017, or about 77% of the GDP. This is more than twice as high as it was in 2001. The highest recorded was about 106% of the GDP in 1946, at the end of World War II.