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97-672: The Grace Commission report was presented to Congress in January 1984. The report showed that if its recommendations were followed, $ 424 billion could be saved in three years, rising to $ 1.9 trillion per year by the year 2000. It estimated that the national debt , without these reforms, would rise to $ 13 trillion by the year 2000, while with the reforms they projected it would rise to only $ 2.5 trillion. The report's recommendations that intruded into policy were ignored by Congress, but many other efficiency recommendations were considered and some were implemented. The US national debt reached $ 5.6 trillion in

194-453: A cash rather than an accrual basis, although the accrual basis may provide more information on the longer-term implications of the government's annual operations. The United States public debt is often expressed as a ratio of public debt to GDP. The ratio of debt to GDP may decrease as a result of a government surplus as well as from growth of GDP and inflation. Under normal accounting rules, fully owned companies would be consolidated into

291-473: A "total deficit" of $ 455 billion. This latter figure is the one commonly reported in the media. However, an additional $ 313 billion was required for "the Treasury actions aimed at stabilizing the financial markets," an unusually high amount because of the subprime mortgage crisis . This meant that the "debt held by the public" increased by $ 768 billion ($ 455B + $ 313B = $ 768B). The "off-budget surplus"

388-596: A 33% increase in suicide rates since 1999. From 2019 to 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to approximately 61% of the decrease in life expectancy in the United States. While increases in mortality from unintentional injuries , heart disease , homicide , and diabetes contributed to 11.7%, 5.8%, 2.9%, and 2.8% of the decrease in life expectancy from 2019 to 2020, respectively. Life expectancy has also varied by racial and ethnic group, with Non-Hispanic Asians having

485-464: A 72% increase in overdoses in the last decade (including a 30% increase in opioid overdoses from July 2016 to September 2017, but did not differentiate between accidental overdose with a legal prescription and overdose with opioids obtained illegally and/or combined with illegal drugs i.e., heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, etc.), a ten-year increase in liver disease (the rate for men age 25 to 34 increased by 8% per year; for women, by 11% per year), and

582-462: A July 2010 publication: The U.S. has never fully defaulted. In April 1979, however, the U.S. may have technically defaulted on $ 122 million (~$ 413 million in 2023) in Treasury bills , which was less than 1% of U.S. debt. The Treasury Department characterized it as a delay rather than as a default, but it did have consequences for short-term interest rates, which jumped 0.6%. Others view it as

679-508: A growth rate of 35%. However, multi-racial Asian Americans are the fastest growing group in the country, with a growth rate of 55%, reflecting the increase of mixed-race marriages in the United States. As of 2022 , births to White American mothers remain around 50% of the US total, reflecting a decline of 3% compared to 2021. In the same time period, births to Asian American and Hispanic women increased by 2% and 6%, respectively. On April 1, 2020,

776-902: A historically slow population increase in 2021. The growth rate is 0.1% as estimated for 2021. The birth rate is 11.0 births/1,000 population, as of 2020. This was the lowest birth rate since records began. There were 3,613,647 births in 2020, this was the lowest number of births since 1980. In 2020, the CDC reported that there were 1,676,911 marriages in 2020, compared to 2019, there were 2,015,603 marriages. Marriage rates varied significantly by state, ranging from 3.2 marriages/1,000 population in California to 21.0 marriages/1,000 population in Nevada.* *Rates are based on provisional counts of marriages by state of occurrence In 2009, Time magazine reported that 40% of births were to unmarried women. The following

873-442: A little less than half of the total national debt is owed to the "Federal Reserve and intragovernmental holdings". The foreign and international holders of the debt are also put together from the notes, bills, and bonds sections. To the right is a chart for the data as of June 2008: As of October 2018, foreigners owned $ 6.2 trillion of U.S. debt, or approximately 39% of the debt held by the public of $ 16.1 trillion and 28% of

970-549: A negative relationship between high debt and growth remains. However, other economists, including Paul Krugman , have argued that it is low growth which causes national debt to increase, rather than the other way around. Commenting on fiscal sustainability , former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stated in April 2010 that "Neither experience nor economic theory clearly indicates the threshold at which government debt begins to endanger prosperity and economic stability. But given

1067-474: A ratio to GDP . The United States public debt as a percentage of GDP reached its highest level during Harry Truman 's first presidential term, during and after World War II . Public debt as a percentage of GDP fell rapidly in the post-World War II period and reached a low in 1974 under Richard Nixon . Debt as a share of GDP has consistently increased since then, except during the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton . Public debt rose sharply during

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1164-550: A share of gross domestic product (GDP) increases during wars and recessions and then subsequently declines. The ratio of debt to GDP may decrease as a result of a government surplus or via growth of GDP and inflation . The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated in February 2024 that Federal debt held by the public is projected to rise from 99 percent of GDP in 2024 to 116 percent in 2034, and would continue to grow if current laws generally remained unchanged. Over that period,

1261-451: A temporary, partial default. The United States debt ceiling is a legislative constraint on the amount of national debt that can be incurred by the U.S. Treasury . It limits how much money the federal government may pay on the debt it already has by borrowing even more money. The debt ceiling applies to almost all federal debt, including accounts owned by the public and intra-government funds for Medicare and Social Security . In 2009

1358-611: A total interest expense of $ 875 billion. This accrued interest is added to the Social Security Trust Fund and therefore the national debt each year and will be paid to Social Security recipients in the future. However, since it is a non-cash expense it is excluded from the budget deficit calculation. Demographics of the United States The United States had an official estimated resident population of 335,893,238 on Jan 1, 2024, according to

1455-514: Is New Jersey (1,263/mi or 488/km ). The population is highly urbanized, with 83.3% of the population residing in cities and suburbs. Large urban clusters are spread throughout the eastern half of the United States (particularly the Great Lakes area, northeast, east, and southeast) and the western tier states; mountainous areas, principally the Rocky Mountains and Appalachian chain, deserts in

1552-547: Is $ 116 billion more than in FY2017. The Treasury statements as summarized by in the CBO report that corporate taxes for 2017 and 2018 declined by $ 92 billion representing a drop of 31%. The CBO added that "about half of the decline ... occurred since June" when some of the provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 took effect, which included the "new lower corporate tax rate and

1649-481: Is a breakdown by race for unwed births: 17% Asian, 29% White, 53% Hispanics (of any race), 66% Native Americans, and 72% Black American. According to the CDC, in 2020, there were at least, 1,461,121 births to unmarried women. In 2020, 40.5% of births were to unmarried women. The following is a breakdown by race for unwed births: 28.4% Non-Hispanic White, 70.4% Non-Hispanic Black, and 52.8% Hispanic (of any race). The drop in

1746-465: Is an estimated $ 45.8 trillion. This is the amount that would have had to be set aside in 2009 in order to pay for the unfunded obligations which, under current law, will have to be raised by the government in the future. Approximately $ 7.7 trillion relates to Social Security, while $ 38.2 trillion relates to Medicare and Medicaid. In other words, health care programs will require nearly five times more funding than Social Security. Adding this to

1843-520: Is around 1.84 children per woman, as of 2024 In 1800 the average U.S. woman had 7.04 children; by the first decade of the 1900s, this number had already decreased to 3.56. Since 1971, the birth rate has generally been below the replacement rate of 2.1 . Since the Great Recession of 2007 , the rate has consistently been below replacement. The drop in the TFR from 2.08 per woman in 2007 to 1.76 in 2017

1940-528: Is higher than the rate of increase of debt. Conversely, the debt to GDP ratio can increase even while debt is being reduced, if the decline in GDP is sufficient. According to the CIA World Factbook , during 2015, the U.S. debt to GDP ratio of 73.6% was the 39th highest in the world. This was measured using "debt held by the public." However, $ 1 trillion in additional borrowing since the end of FY 2015 raised

2037-460: Is limited by the United States debt ceiling . During the COVID-19 pandemic , the federal government spent trillions in virus aid and economic relief. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the budget deficit for fiscal year 2020 would increase to $ 3.3 trillion or 16% GDP, more than triple that of 2019 and the largest as % GDP since 1945. In December 2021, debt held by

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2134-415: Is projected to continue rising relative to GDP under the above two scenarios, although the CBO did also offer other scenarios that involved austerity measures that would bring the debt to GDP ratio down. Since 2010, the U.S. Treasury has been obtaining negative real interest rates on government debt, meaning the inflation rate is greater than the interest rate paid on the debt. Such low rates, outpaced by

2231-685: Is the most populous city in the United States and has been since at least 1790 . In the U.S. territories , population centers include the San Juan metro area in Puerto Rico , Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands , and the island of Tutuila in American Samoa . A total of 3,659,289 babies were born in 2021, a 1% increase from 2020. Additionally, researchers also looked at births by race and found that White and Hispanic women each saw

2328-410: Is the debt divided by the GDP amount. The Congressional Budget Office includes historical budget and debt tables along with its annual "Budget and Economic Outlook". Debt held by the public as a percentage of GDP rose from 34.7% GDP in 2000 to 40.5% in 2008 and 67.7% in 2011. Mathematically, the ratio can decrease even while debt grows if the rate of increase in GDP (which also takes account of inflation)

2425-587: Is the highest fourth quarter issuance "since 2008, at the height of the financial crisis." As cited by the Journal and the Business Insider , the primary drivers of new debt issuance are "stagnant", "sluggish tax revenues", a decrease in "corporate tax revenue", due to the GOP Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 , the "bipartisan budget agreement", and "higher government spending". As of July 20, 2020, debt held by

2522-529: Is the sum of the on-budget deficit (or surplus) and the off-budget deficit (or surplus). Since FY1960, the federal government has run on-budget deficits except for FY1999 and FY2000, and total federal deficits except in FY1969 and FY1998–FY2001. For example, in January 2009 the CBO reported that for FY2008, the "on-budget deficit" was $ 638 billion, offset by an "off-budget surplus" (mainly due to Social Security revenue in excess of payouts) of $ 183 billion, for

2619-420: Is used to gauge the strain on the populace that is productive. The support ratio is the ratio of the working-age population to the elderly population, that is, the reciprocal of the aged dependency ratio. *Ratios are ranked from highest to lowest by country. The average life expectancy in the United States has been declining since 2014. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites three main reasons:

2716-570: The Census Bureau . This figure includes the 50 states and Washington, D.C. but excludes the population of five unincorporated U.S. territories ( Puerto Rico , Guam , the U.S. Virgin Islands , American Samoa , and the Northern Mariana Islands ) as well as several minor island possessions . The United States is the third most populous country in the world, and the most populous in the Americas and

2813-504: The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 signed into law on March 23, 2018. Debt levels may affect economic growth rates. In 2010, economists Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart reported that among the 20 developed countries studied, average annual GDP growth was 3–4% when debt was relatively moderate or low (i.e., under 60% of GDP), but it dips to just 1.6% when debt was high (i.e., above 90% of GDP). In April 2013,

2910-712: The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 . In their September 2018 monthly report published on October 5 and based on data from the Treasury Department's "Daily Treasury Statements" (DTS), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) wrote that the federal budget deficit was c.$ 782 billion for the fiscal year 2018—which runs from October 2017 through September 2018. This

3007-677: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that the United States was on a "fiscally unsustainable" path because of projected future increases in Medicare and Social Security spending. According to the Treasury report in October 2018, summarized by Business Insider ' s Bob Bryan, the U.S. federal budget deficit rose as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 22, 2017 and

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3104-711: The United Kingdom ($ 0.4 trillion or 6.2%). Historically, the share held by foreign governments had grown over time, rising from 13% of the public debt in 1988 to 34% in 2015. In more recent years, foreign ownership has retreated both in percent of total debt and total dollar amounts. China's maximum holding of 9.1% or $ 1.3 trillion of U.S. debt occurred in 2011, subsequently reduced to 5% in 2018. Japan's maximum holding of 7% or $ 1.2 trillion occurred in 2012, subsequently reduced to 4% in 2018. According to Paul Krugman , "America actually earns more from its assets abroad than it pays to foreign investors." Nonetheless,

3201-400: The United States had a population of 331,449,281, according to the 2020 United States census . Note: Population estimate of United States excluding overseas armed forces. Age distribution by selected age groups. The median age of the total population as of 2021 is 38.8 years; the male median age is 37.7 years; the female median age is 39.8 years. The total fertility rate (TFR)

3298-571: The Western Hemisphere . The Census Bureau showed a population increase of 0.4% for the twelve-month period ending in July 2022, below the world estimated annual rate of 1.03%, in 2021. The total fertility rate (TFR) is around 1.84 children per woman, as of 2024 which is below the replacement fertility rate of approximately 2.1. By several metrics, including racial and ethnic background, religious affiliation, and percentage of rural and urban divide,

3395-507: The inflation rate , occur when the market believes that there are no alternatives with sufficiently low risk, or when popular institutional investments such as insurance companies, pensions , or bond, money market, and balanced mutual funds are required or choose to invest sufficiently large sums in Treasury securities to hedge against risk. Economist Lawrence Summers states that at such low interest rates, government borrowing actually saves taxpayer money and improves creditworthiness. In

3492-439: The total fertility rate (the number of births that the average women have over their lifetimes) was 1.6635 births per every woman. This is still below the replacement level, the level a population needs to replace itself, which is, at least, 2.1 births per woman. Note: Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number. Also note that growth arrows indicate an increase or decrease in

3589-466: The 1970s. Births have declined for three consecutive years, and are now 7% below the peak in 2007. This drop has continued through 2010, according to data released by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics in June 2011. Numerous experts have suggested that this decline is largely a reflection of unfavorable economic conditions. This connection between birth rates and economic downturns partly stems from

3686-405: The 1980s, as Ronald Reagan negotiated with Congress to cut tax rates and increase military spending . It fell during the 1990s because of decreased military spending, increased taxes and the 1990s boom . Public debt rose sharply during George W. Bush's presidency and in the wake of the 2007–2008 financial crisis , with resulting significant tax revenue declines and spending increases, such as

3783-470: The 30-year period through 2049. The CBO reported: Large budget deficits over the next 30 years are projected to drive federal debt held by the public to unprecedented levels—from 78 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 to 144 percent by 2049. That projection incorporates CBO's central estimates of various factors, such as productivity growth and interest rates on federal debt. CBO's analysis indicates that even if values for those factors differed from

3880-494: The Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund (Medicare). Only debt held by the public is reported as a liability on the consolidated financial statements of the United States government. Debt held by US government accounts is an asset to those accounts but a liability to the Treasury; they offset each other in the consolidated financial statements. Government receipts and expenditures are normally presented on

3977-540: The Philippines (5%) and El Salvador (3%). Some 13% of current living immigrants come from Europe and Canada, and 10% from the Caribbean. Among new arrivals, Asian immigrants have been more numerous than Hispanic immigrants since 2010; in 2017, 37.4% of immigrant arrivals were Asian, and 26.6% were Hispanic. Until 2017 and 2018, the United States led the world in refugee resettlement for decades, admitting more refugees than

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4074-438: The U.S. foreign-born population, some 45% (20.7 million) were naturalized citizens, 27% (12.3 million) were lawful permanent residents (including many eligible to become citizens), 6% (2.2 million) were temporary lawful residents, and 23% (10.5 million) were unauthorized immigrants. Among current living immigrants to the U.S., the top five countries of birth are Mexico (25% of immigrants), China (6%), India (6%),

4171-507: The U.S. population to continue its rapid increase, with the foreign-born population doubling from almost 20 million in 1990 to over 45 million in 2015, representing one-third of the population increase. The U.S. population grew by 1.6 million from 2018 to 2019, with 38% of growth from immigration. Population growth is fastest among minorities as a whole, and according to the Census Bureau's 2020 estimation, 50% of U.S. children under

4268-552: The United States, accounting for 28% of the overall U.S. population. In 2018, 1,096,611 immigrants were granted either permanent or temporary legal residence in the United States According to the U.S. Census Bureau , in 2021, the population of the United States grew at a slower rate than in any other year since the country's founding. The U.S. population grew only 0.1% from the previous year before. The United States' population has grown by less than one million people for

4365-430: The age of 18 are members of ethnic minority groups . As of 2020, white people numbered 235,411,507 or 71% of the population, including people who identified as white in combination with another race. People who identified as white alone (including Hispanic whites) numbered 204,277,273 or 61.6% of the population and Non-Latino whites made up 57.8% of the country's population. Latino Americans accounted for 51.1% of

4462-509: The agency's projections, debt several decades from now would probably be much higher than it is today. Furthermore, under alternative scenarios: If lawmakers changed current laws to maintain certain major policies now in place—most significantly, if they prevented a cut in discretionary spending in 2020 and an increase in individual income taxes in 2026—then debt held by the public would increase even more, reaching 219 percent of GDP by 2049. By contrast, if Social Security benefits were limited to

4559-513: The amounts payable from revenues received by the Social Security trust funds, debt in 2049 would reach 106 percent of GDP, still well above its current level. Over the long-term, the CBO projects that interest expense and mandatory spending categories (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security) will continue to grow relative to GDP, while discretionary categories (e.g., Defense and other Cabinet Departments) continue to fall relative to GDP. Debt

4656-445: The annual increase in the debt. The major categories of differences are the treatment of the Social Security program, Treasury borrowing, and supplemental appropriations outside the budget process. Social Security payroll taxes and benefit payments, along with the net balance of the U.S. Postal Service , are considered "off-budget", while most other expenditure and receipt categories are considered "on-budget". The total federal deficit

4753-499: The birth rate from 2007 to 2009 is believed to be associated with the Great Recession . A study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found that more than half (51 percent) of live hospital births in 2008 and 2011 were male. Per U.S. federal government data released in March 2011, births fell 4% from 2007 to 2009, the largest drop in the U.S. for any two-year period since

4850-410: The books of their owners, but the large size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has made the U.S. government reluctant to incorporate them into its own books. When the two mortgage companies required bail-outs, White House Budget Director Jim Nussle, on September 12, 2008, initially indicated their budget plans would not incorporate the government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) debt into the budget because of

4947-431: The budget process entirely until President Obama began including most of them in his FY2010 budget. In other words, spending the "off budget" Social Security surplus adds to the total national debt (by increasing the intragovernmental debt) while the "off-budget" surplus reduces the "total" deficit reported in the media. Certain spending called "supplemental appropriations" is outside the budget process entirely but adds to

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5044-557: The cash upon receipt but spent for other purposes. If the government continues to run deficits in other parts of the budget, the government will have to issue debt held by the public to fund the Social Security Trust Fund, in effect exchanging one type of debt for the other. Other large intragovernmental holders include the Federal Housing Administration, the Federal Savings and Loan Corporation's Resolution Fund and

5141-482: The conclusions of Rogoff and Reinhart's study came into question when a coding error in their original paper was discovered by Herndon, Ash and Pollin of the University of Massachusetts Amherst . Herndon, Ash and Pollin found that after correcting for errors and unorthodox methods used, there was no evidence that debt above a specific threshold reduces growth. Reinhart and Rogoff maintain that after correcting for errors,

5238-478: The corporate experts whom the commission employed in interviewing federal employees; he also noted the potential for conflicts of interest. The Congressional Budget Office and General Accounting Office filed a joint report in 1984 finding that deficit reduction from the 90% of the commission's recommendations they analyzed would only amount to $ 98 billion. It also critiqued several recommendations as vague or lacking in data, and found disparities between agencies on

5335-444: The country's net international investment position represents a debt of more than $ 9 trillion. The CBO estimated the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and separate spending legislation over the 2018–2028 period in their annual "Budget & Economic Outlook", released in April 2018: The CBO estimated that the budget deficit for fiscal year 2020 would increase to $ 3.3 trillion or 16% GDP, more than triple that of 2019 and

5432-766: The crisis, such as those made under the Troubled Asset Relief Program , was included in the debt totals. The U.S. federal government is obligated under current law to make mandatory payments for programs such as Medicare , Medicaid and Social Security. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) projects that payouts for these programs will significantly exceed tax revenues over the next 75 years. The Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) payouts already exceed program tax revenues, and social security payouts exceeded payroll taxes in fiscal year 2010. These deficits require funding from other tax sources or borrowing. The present value of these deficits or unfunded obligations

5529-414: The debt decreases as more money is received than spent, enabling the government to reduce the debt by buying back some Treasury securities. In general, government debt increases as a result of government spending and decreases from tax or other receipts, both of which fluctuate during the course of a fiscal year . There are two components of gross national debt: Historically, the U.S. public debt as

5626-463: The debt, the Treasury also publishes information that groups the types of holders by general categories to portray who owns United States debt. In this data set, some of the public portion is moved and combined with the total government portion, because this amount is owned by the Federal Reserve as part of United States monetary policy. (See Federal Reserve System .) As is apparent from the chart,

5723-526: The deficits. Two economists, Jaromir Benes and Michael Kumhof, working for the International Monetary Fund , published a working paper called The Chicago Plan Revisited suggesting that the debt could be eliminated by raising bank reserve requirements and converting from fractional-reserve banking to full-reserve banking . Economists at the Paris School of Economics have commented on

5820-638: The expanded ability to immediately deduct the full value of equipment purchases". (~$ 1.6 trillion in 2023) According to articles in The Wall Street Journal and Business Insider , based on documents released on October 29, 2018, by the Treasury Department , the department's projection estimated that by the fourth quarter of the FY2018, it would have issued c. $ 1.338 trillion (~$ 1.6 trillion in 2023) in debt. This would have been

5917-468: The fact that American birth rates have now fallen to levels that are comparable to the Great Depression of the 1930s. Teen birth rates in the U.S. are at the lowest level in U.S. history. In fact, teen birth rates in the U.S. have consistently decreased since 1991 through 2011, except for a brief increase between 2005 and 2007. The other aberration from this otherwise steady decline in teen birth rates

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6014-403: The federal debt and by federal government contributions to transfer payments. In other words, all individual income tax revenues are gone before one nickel is spent on the services that taxpayers expect from their government." Political science professor Charles T. Goodsell read through 45 of the 47 volumes of the commission's findings, and noted that the methodology appeared to give much power to

6111-484: The first time in history in February 2022. As of December 2023, total federal debt was $ 33.1 trillion; $ 26.5 trillion held by the public and $ 12.1 trillion in intragovernmental debt. The annualized cost of servicing this debt was $ 726 billion in July 2023, which accounted for 14% of the total federal spending. In February 2024, the total federal government debt grew to $ 34.4 trillion after having grown by approximately $ 1 trillion in both of two separate 100-day periods since

6208-427: The first time since 1937, with the lowest numeric growth since at least 1900, when the Census Bureau began yearly population estimates. Apart from the previous few years, when population growth plummeted to historically low levels, the slowest pace of increase in the twentieth century occurred between 1918 and 1919, when the influenza epidemic and World War I were both in full swing. Slower population growth has been

6305-566: The foreign born community is undocumented , accounting for 3.2% of the total population. According to the 2010 census, Latin America and the Caribbean is the largest region-of-birth group, accounting for 53% of the foreign born population. As of 2018 this region is still the largest source of immigrants to the United States In 2018, there were almost 90 million immigrants and U.S. born children of immigrants ( second-generation Americans) in

6402-445: The growth of interest costs and mandatory spending outpaces the growth of revenues and the economy, driving up debt. Those factors persist beyond 2034, pushing federal debt higher still, to 172 percent of GDP in 2054. In recent decades, aging demographics and rising healthcare costs have led to concern about the long-term sustainability of the federal government's fiscal policies . The aggregate, gross amount that Treasury can borrow

6499-414: The highest debt issuance since 2010, when it reached $ 1.586 trillion (~$ 2.16 trillion in 2023). The Treasury anticipated that the total "net marketable debt"—net marketable securities—issued in the fourth quarter would reach $ 425 billion; which would raise the 2018 "total debt issuance" to over a trillion dollars of new debt, representing a "146% jump from 2017". According to the Journal that

6596-400: The highest life expectancy and Non-Hispanic American Indians having the lowest. In 2021, life expectancy at birth in the United States fell for the second year in a row, the first two-year drop since 1961–1963. in 2021 in 2021 in 2021* in 2020 in 2019 [REDACTED] [REDACTED] NOTE : Life expectancy at birth data for 2021 are provisional.* The most densely populated state

6693-403: The largest as % GDP since 1945, because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic . CBO also forecast the debt held by the public would rise to 98% GDP in 2020, compared with 79% in 2019 and 35% in 2007 before the Great Recession . The CBO reports its Long-Term Budget Outlook annually, providing at least two scenarios for spending, revenue, deficits, and debt. The 2019 Outlook mainly covers

6790-427: The late 1940s through the early 1970s, the U.S. and UK both reduced their debt burden by about 30% to 40% of GDP per decade by taking advantage of negative real interest rates, but there is no guarantee that government debt rates will continue to stay this low. Between 1946 and 1974, the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio fell from 121% to 32% even though there were surpluses in only eight of those years which were much smaller than

6887-436: The marketable securities are Treasury notes, bills, and bonds held by investors and governments globally. The non-marketable securities are mainly the "government account series" owed to certain government trust funds such as the Social Security Trust Fund, which represented $ 2.82 trillion (~$ 3.45 trillion in 2023) in 2017. The non-marketable securities represent amounts owed to program beneficiaries. For example, in

6984-420: The national debt and other federal obligations would bring total obligations to nearly $ 62 trillion. However, these unfunded obligations are not counted in the national debt, as shown in monthly Treasury reports of the national debt. GDP is a measure of the total size and output of the economy. One measure of the debt burden is its size relative to GDP, called the " debt-to-GDP ratio ". Mathematically, this

7081-496: The national debt. Funding for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars was accounted for this way prior to the Obama administration. Certain stimulus measures and earmarks were also outside the budget process. The federal government publishes the total debt owed (public and intragovernmental holdings) daily. Because a large variety of people own the notes, bills, and bonds in the "public" portion of

7178-427: The norm in the United States for some years, owing to lower fertility and net international migration , as well as rising mortality from an aging population. To put it another way, since the mid-2010s, births and net international migration have been dropping while deaths have risen. These trends have a cumulative effect of reduced population increase. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend, resulting in

7275-416: The number of births increase by about 2% from 2020 to 2021. Meanwhile, Black and Asian women saw the number of births decline by 2.4% and 2.5%, respectively, over the same period, while American Indian/Alaskan Native women saw their numbers fall by 3.2%. It also marks the first rise in births since 2014. Prior to this report, the total number of births had been decreasing by an average of 2% per year. However,

7372-1078: The number of births, not in the fertility rate. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] NOTE : [REDACTED] [REDACTED] New York : 2.21%, New Jersey : 1.7%, Wisconsin : 1.04%, Arkansas : 1.02%, Montana : 0.86%, Ohio : 0.85%, Iowa : 0.84%, Pennsylvania : 0.82%, Kansas : 0.76%, Kentucky : 0.76%, Utah : 0.75%, Minnesota : 0.75%, Indiana : 0.72%, Wyoming : 0.72%, Mississippi : 0.7%, Michigan : 0.7%, Idaho 0.65%, West Virginia : 0.64%, Arizona : 0.62%, North Dakota 0.59%, South Dakota 0.54%, Arkansas 0.51%, New Mexico : 0.50%, Maryland : 0.49%, Oregon : 0.46%, Michigan : 0.44%, Oklahoma : 0.44%, Florida : 0.43%, Tennessee : 0.42%, Virginia : 0.41%, Illinois : 0.40%, Nevada : 0.40%, West Virginia : 0.39%, Delaware : 0.38%, Georgia : 0.36%, Nebraska : 0.36%, Texas : 0.33%, Alabama : 0.33%, Missouri : 0.32%, Vermont : 0.31%, South Carolina : 0.30%, California : 0.29%, Colorado : 0.29%, North Carolina : 0.25%, Alaska : 0.25%, Connecticut : 0.20%, New Hampshire : 0.19%, Massachusetts : 0.17%. In 2017, out of

7469-491: The plan, stating that it is already the status quo for coinage currency, and a Norges Bank economist has examined the proposal in the context of considering the finance industry as part of the real economy . A Centre for Economic Policy Research paper agrees with the conclusion that "no real liability is created by new fiat money creation and therefore public debt does not rise as a result." The CBO reported several types of risk factors related to rising debt levels in

7566-456: The previous 12 months was approximately $ 18.15 trillion, for a total debt to GDP ratio of approximately 106%. Conceptually, an annual deficit (or surplus) should represent the change in the national debt, with a deficit adding to the national debt and a surplus reducing it. However, there is complexity in the budgetary computations that can make the deficit figure commonly reported in the media (the "total deficit") considerably different from

7663-415: The previous June. By November 2024, the debt had grown to $ 36 trillion. The United States federal government has continuously had a fluctuating public debt since its formation in 1789, except for about a year during 1835–1836, a period in which the nation, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson , completely paid the national debt. To allow comparisons over the years, public debt is often expressed as

7760-429: The public debt total as they were not drawn against. In late 2008, the federal government had guaranteed large amounts of obligations of mutual funds, banks, and corporations under several programs designed to deal with the problems arising from the 2007–2008 financial crisis . The guarantee program lapsed at the end of 2012, when Congress declined to extend the scheme. The funding of direct investments made in response to

7857-500: The public was $ 20.57 trillion, and intragovernmental holdings were $ 5.94 trillion, for a total of $ 26.51 trillion. Debt held by the public was approximately 77% of GDP in 2017, ranked 43rd highest out of 207 countries. The CBO forecast in April 2018 that the ratio will rise to nearly 100% by 2028, perhaps higher if current policies are extended beyond their scheduled expiration date. The national debt can also be classified into marketable or non-marketable securities. Most of

7954-472: The public was estimated at 96.19% of GDP, and approximately 33% of this public debt was owned by foreigners (government and private). The United States has the largest external debt in the world . The total number of U.S. Treasury securities held by foreign entities in December 2021 was $ 7.7 trillion, up from $ 7.1 trillion in December 2020. Total US federal government debt breached the $ 30 trillion mark for

8051-440: The public" gives 96% of GDP. The ratio is higher if the total national debt is used, by adding the "intragovernmental debt" to the "debt held by the public." For example, on April 29, 2016, debt held by the public was approximately $ 13.84 trillion (~$ 17.2 trillion in 2023) or about 76% of GDP. Intra-governmental holdings stood at $ 5.35 trillion, giving a combined total public debt of $ 19.19 trillion. U.S. GDP for

8148-458: The ratio to 76.2% as of April 2016 [See Appendix#National debt for selected years]. Also, this number excludes state and local debt. According to the OECD, general government gross debt (federal, state, and local) in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2015 was $ 22.5 trillion (125% of GDP); subtracting out $ 5.25 trillion for intragovernmental federal debt to count only federal "debt held by

8245-414: The relevance of certain performance metrics. United States public debt Bowles–Simpson Commission 2007–2008 financial crisis 2013 budget sequestration Related events The national debt of the United States is the total national debt owed by the federal government of the United States to Treasury security holders. The national debt at any point in time is the face value of

8342-452: The rest of the world combined. From fiscal year 1980 until 2017, 55% of refugees came from Asia, 27% from Europe, 13% from Africa, and 4% from Latin America, fleeing war and persecution. *(mid-year estimates) As of 2017, 13.6% (44.4 million) of the population was foreign born – an increase from 4.7% in 1970 but less than the 1890 record of 14.8%. 45% of the foreign born population were naturalized US citizens. 23% (10.3 million) of

8439-478: The significant costs and risks associated with a rapidly rising federal debt, our nation should soon put in place a credible plan for reducing deficits to sustainable levels over time." Interest expense on the public debt was approximately $ 678 billion in FY2023. During FY2023, the government also accrued a non-cash interest expense of $ 197 billion for intra-governmental debt, primarily the Social Security Trust Fund, for

8536-447: The southwest, the dense boreal forests in the extreme north, and the central prairie states are less densely populated; Alaska's population is concentrated along its southern coast – with particular emphasis on the city of Anchorage – and Hawaii's is centered on the island of Oahu. California and Texas are the most populous states, as the mean center of U.S. population has consistently shifted westward and southward. New York City

8633-676: The standards set by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board . The on- or off- balance sheet obligations of those two independent GSEs was just over $ 5 trillion at the time the conservatorship was put in place, consisting mainly of mortgage payment guarantees and agency bonds . The confusing independent but government-controlled status of the GSEs resulted in investors of the legacy common shares and preferred shares launching various activist campaigns in 2014. U.S. federal government guarantees were not included in

8730-451: The state of Illinois is the most representative of the larger demography of the United States. The U.S. population almost quadrupled during the 20th century – at a growth rate of about 1.3% a year – from about 76 million in 1900 to 281 million in 2000. It is estimated to have reached the 200 million mark in 1967, and the 300 million mark on October 17, 2006. Foreign-born immigration caused

8827-672: The temporary nature of the conservator intervention. As the intervention has dragged out, pundits began to question this accounting treatment, noting that changes in August 2012 "makes them even more permanent wards of the state and turns the government's preferred stock into a permanent, perpetual kind of security". The federal government controls the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board , which would normally criticize inconsistent accounting practices, but it does not oversee its own government's accounting practices or

8924-411: The then-outstanding Treasury securities that have been issued by the Treasury and other federal agencies . The terms "national deficit" and "national surplus" usually refer to the federal government budget balance from year to year, not the cumulative amount of debt . In a deficit year the national debt increases as the government needs to borrow funds to finance the deficit , while in a surplus year

9021-455: The total debt of $ 21.8 trillion. In December 2020, foreigners held 33% ($ 7 trillion out of $ 21.6 trillion) of publicly held US debt; of this $ 7 trillion, $ 4.1 trillion (59.2%) belonged to foreign governments and $ 2.8 trillion (40.8%) to foreign investors. Including both private and public debt holders, the top three December 2020 national holders of American public debt are Japan ($ 1.2 trillion or 17.7%), China ($ 1.1 trillion or 15.2%), and

9118-423: The total national population growth between 2010 and 2020. The Hispanic or Latino population increased from 50.5 million in 2010 to 62.1 million in 2020: a 23% increase and a numerical increase of more than 11.6 million. Immigrants and their U.S.-born descendants are expected to provide most of the U.S. population gains in the decades ahead. Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in America, with

9215-413: The year 2000 and reached 13 trillion in 2010 after the Great Recession . The report said that one-third of all income taxes are consumed by waste and inefficiency in the federal government, and another one-third escapes collection owing to the underground economy. "With two thirds of everyone's personal income taxes wasted or not collected, 100 percent of what is collected is absorbed solely by interest on

9312-520: Was borrowed and spent (as is typically the case), increasing the "intra-governmental debt" by $ 183 billion. So the total increase in the "national debt" in FY2008 was $ 768B +$ 183B = $ 951 billion. The Treasury Department reported an increase in the national debt of $ 1,017B for FY2008. The $ 66 billion difference is likely from "supplemental appropriations" for the War on Terror , some of which were outside

9409-514: Was mostly due to the declining birth rate of ethnic minorities, teenagers and women in their 30s. During that period, the birthrate for women ages 35 to 44 has risen. The 12 month ending general fertility rate increased from 56.6 to 57.0 in 2022 Q1 compared to 2021 Q4. The dependency ratio is the age-population ratio of people who are normally not in the labor force (the dependent population, which includes those aged 0 to 14 and 65 and older) to those who are (the productive part, ages 15 to 64). It

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