The United States has about $30.9 trillion in national debt, according to the latest Treasury Department data, and that total is set to hit a record $31 trillion by the end of the month.
Roughly $24.3 trillion of the total outstanding US public debt consists of debt held by the public, and $6.6 trillion is intragovernmental holdings, according to Monday data from the Treasury Department.
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Intragovernmental holdings include federal trust funds, revolving funds and special funds, as well as Federal Financing Bank securities, the Treasury Department said on its website.
The Treasury Department building in Washington on Aug. 29, 2022. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Debt held by the public consists of all national debt “held by any person or entity that is not an agency of the federal government of the United States,” according to the Treasury Department. That includes corporations, domestic individual investors, state or local governments, Federal Reserve Banks, foreign investors, foreign governments, and other entities.
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About a third of the debt held by the public is held by foreign holders. Foreign countries hold a total of about $7.4 trillion of US debt at the end of June, the most recent month for which data is available.
About a third of US debt held by the public is held by foreign holders. (Getty Images/iStock/Getty Images)
Japan is the largest holder with about $1.2 trillion in Treasury securities. Behind Japan, the four countries with the largest US debt holdings are China at $967.8 billion, the UK at $615.4 billion, Luxembourg at $306.8 billion, and the British Isles. Cayman with $300.4 billion.
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The US national debt last hit a milestone in February 2020 when it topped $30 trillion for the first time.
Rising debt could have ramifications for the US economy, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office warned in its long-term budget outlook released in July. “It would raise borrowing costs across the economy, reduce private investment and slow economic output growth over time,” the agency said.
