U.S. Government Historical Debt Outstanding from 1789

U.S. Department of the Treasury data summarizes the total outstanding public debt at the end of each fiscal year. The series covers over 230 years, from 1789 to the present, with fiscal year start dates changing in 1842 and 1977. It provides a high-level annual summary without a breakdown of debt components.

Use Cases

• Analyze long-term trends in total U.S. public debt from 1789 to present.
• Model fiscal year-end debt levels, accounting for changes in fiscal year start dates in 1842 and 1977.
• Study the impact of major historical events on annual debt outstanding figures.
• Compare pre-1920 debt figures (reported at the start of the next fiscal year) with post-1920 figures (reported at the end of the fiscal year).

Strengths

• Provides over 230 years of continuous historical data, from 1789 onward.
• Sourced from the authoritative U.S. Department of the Treasury.
• Documents changes in fiscal year definitions, clarifying data interpretation across periods.

Limitations

• Contains only high-level summary totals with no breakdown of debt components like securities or holders.
• Historical changes in fiscal year reporting (start dates and reporting day) require careful handling for time-series analysis.
• The dataset description does not specify the exact number of rows (annual records) or file size.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Time Range

1789 to present

Freshness

Last updated in December 2023, with data extending to the current year.

Geography

United States