Historical Debt Outstanding – Annual 1900 – 1949
The first fiscal year for the U.S. Government started Jan. 1, 1789. Congress changed the beginning of the fiscal year from Jan. 1 to Jul. 1 in 1842, and finally from Jul. 1 to Oct. 1 in 1977 where it remains today.
To find more historical information, visit The Public Debt Historical Information archives.
| Date | Dollar Amount |
|---|---|
| 06/30/1949 | 252,770,359,860.33 |
| 06/30/1948 | 252,292,246,512.99 |
| 06/30/1947 | 258,286,383,108.67 |
| 06/28/1946 | 269,422,099,173.26 |
| 06/30/1945 | 258,682,187,409.93 |
| 06/30/1944 | 201,003,387,221.13 |
| 06/30/1943 | 136,696,090,329.90 |
| 06/30/1942 | 72,422,445,116.22 |
| 06/30/1941 | 48,961,443,535.71 |
| 06/29/1940 | 42,967,531,037.68 |
| 06/30/1939 | 40,439,532,411.11 |
| 06/30/1938 | 37,164,740,315.45 |
| 06/30/1937 | 36,424,613,732.29 |
| 06/30/1936 | 33,778,543,493.73 |
| 06/29/1935 | 28,700,892,624.53 |
| 06/30/1934 | 27,053,141,414.48 |
| 06/30/1933 | 22,538,672,560.15 |
| 06/30/1932 | 19,487,002,444.13 |
| 06/30/1931 | 16,801,281,491.71 |
| 06/30/1930 | 16,185,309,831.43 |
| 06/29/1929 | 16,931,088,484.10 |
| 06/30/1928 | 17,604,293,201.43 |
| 06/30/1927 | 18,511,906,931.85 |
| 06/30/1926 | 19,643,216,315.19 |
| 06/30/1925 | 20,516,193,887.90 |
| 06/30/1924 | 21,250,812,989.49 |
| 06/30/1923 | 22,349,707,365.36 |
| 06/30/1922 | 22,963,381,708.31 |
| 06/30/1921 | 23,977,450,552.54 |
| 07/01/1920 | 25,952,456,406.16 |
| 07/01/1919 | 27,390,970,113.12 |
| 07/01/1918 | 14,592,161,414.00 |
| 07/01/1917 | 5,717,770,279.52 |
| 07/01/1916 | 3,609,244,262.16 |
| 07/01/1915 | 3,058,136,873.16 |
| 07/01/1914 | 2,912,499,269.16 |
| 07/01/1913 | 2,916,204,913.66 |
| 07/01/1912 | 2,868,373,874.16 |
| 07/01/1911 | 2,765,600,606.69 |
| 07/01/1910 | 2,652,665,838.04 |
| 07/01/1909 | 2,639,546,241.04 |
| 07/01/1908 | 2,626,806,271.54 |
| 07/01/1907 | 2,457,188,061.54 |
| 07/01/1906 | 2,337,161,839.04 |
| 07/01/1905 | 2,274,615,063.84 |
| 07/01/1904 | 2,264,003,585.14 |
| 07/01/1903 | 2,202,464,781.89 |
| 07/01/1902 | 2,158,610,445.89 |
| 07/01/1901 | 2,143,326,933.89 |
| 07/01/1900 | 2,136,961,091.67 |
“The national debt is now $20.1 trillion. That’s larger than the size of the entire US economy… but, the real story isn’t the number or the size of the debt itself. It’s the trend. And it’s not good.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-12/real-story-behind-americas-new-20-trillion-debt
What matters is debt compared to income. Here’s a graph of federal debt as % of GDP.
