logo
Brief Publisher Logo
FACT BRIEF

Is the American federal debt growing like never before?

By Gabriel Vinocur
View this fact brief on EconoFact
Copy link
email
Copy featured image
email
NO

The relevant statistic is federal debt held by the public as a percent of GDP; debt held by the public because other debt is what one government agency owes another, and percent of GDP because that captures the economy’s capacity. Between the 2020 Quarter 1 and 2024 Quarter 2 the federal debt held by the public relative to GDP rose 17 percentage points (from 79.4 percent to 96.4 percent). The peak was in the 2020 Quarter 2 when this was 103.2 percent of GDP – so this ratio fell 6.8 percentage points in 2 years.  But between 2008 Quarter 2 and 2012 Quarter 3, also a four-and-one-quarter year period, the federal debt held by the public relative to GDP rose 33.5 percentage points (from 35.6 percent to 69.1 percent).  Both of these periods began with a crisis – the 2008 economic and financial crisis and the COVID pandemic.  

See a full discussion of this at EconoFact
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
FRED (Federal Reserve Bank Of St. Louis) Federal Debt Held by the Public as Percent of Gross Domestic Product (FYGFGDQ188S)
Fiscal Data from the U.S. Treasury Department What is the National Debt?
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
EconoFact
EconoFact is a non-partisan publication designed to bring key facts and incisive analysis to the national debate on economic and social policies. Launched in January 2017, it is written by leading academic economists from across the country who belong to the EconoFact Network. It is published by the Edward R. Murrow Center for a Digital World at The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
FACT BRIEF BY
Brief Publisher Logo
Latest fact briefs
facebook
twitter
email
email
About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.