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Historically, the U.S. public debt as a share of [[gross domestic product]] (GDP) increases during wars and [[recession]]s and then subsequently declines. The [[Debt-to-GDP ratio|ratio of debt to GDP]] may decrease as a result of a government surplus or via [[Economic growth|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, 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.<ref name="CBO_budgetOutlook2024">{{cite web|url=https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59710|title=The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2024 to 2034|publisher=CBO|date=February 7, 2024|access-date=February 7, 2024}}</ref> In recent decades, aging [[Demographics of the United States|demographics]] and rising [[Health care prices in the United States|healthcare costs]] have led to concern about the long-term sustainability of the federal government's [[Fiscal policy of the United States|fiscal policies]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-27 |title=The 2022 Long-Term Budget Outlook |url=https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57971 |access-date=2022-09-30 |publisher=Congressional Budget Office |language=en}}</ref> The aggregate, gross amount that Treasury can borrow is limited by the [[United States debt ceiling]].<ref>About 0.8% of debt ($1009 billion) is not covered by the ceiling, per [https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/105193.pdf The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases, p. 4. (Note: This includes pre-1917 debt)], fpc.state.gov; accessed August 22, 2016.</ref>
Total US federal government debt breached $30 trillion mark for the first time in history in February 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rappeport |first=Alan |date=2022-02-01 |title=U.S. National Debt Tops $30 Trillion as Borrowing Surged Amid Pandemic |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/01/us/politics/national-debt-30-trillion.html |access-date=2022-02-02 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Debt to the Penny |url=https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/national-debt/#breaking-down-the-debt |access-date=December 4, 2023 |website=fiscaldata.treasury.gov |publisher=[[United States Department of the Treasury]]}}</ref> 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 the previous June.<ref>{{cite news|last=Fox|first=Michelle|date=March 1, 2024|title=The U.S. national debt is rising by $1 trillion about every 100 days|publisher=CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/01/the-us-national-debt-is-rising-by-1-trillion-about-every-100-days.html|access-date=March 1, 2024}}</ref> The annualized cost of servicing this debt was $726 billion in July 2023, which accounted for 14% of the total federal spending.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is the national debt? |url=https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/national-debt/ |access-date=August 18, 2023 |website=fiscaldata.treasury.gov |publisher=[[United States Department of the Treasury]]}}</ref> In December 2021, debt held by the public was estimated at 96.19% of GDP, and approximately 33% of this public debt was owned by foreigners (government and private).<ref name="Treasury-MFH">{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |title=Foreign Holdings of Federal Debt |url=https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/RS22331.pdf |access-date=August 29, 2022 |publisher=Congressional Research Service |via=[[Federation of American Scientists]]}}</ref> The United States has the largest [[List of countries by external debt|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.<ref name="bloomberg_Randall_20181016">{{Cite web |date=May 25, 2022 |title=Foreign Holdings of Federal Debt |url=https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/RS22331.pdf |access-date=September 29, 2022 |publisher=Congressional Budget Office}}</ref>
During the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|COVID-19 pandemic]], the [[U.S. federal government response to the COVID-19 pandemic|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.<ref name="CBO_Aug2020">{{Cite web| title = An update to the budget outlook 2020 to 2030 | access-date = September 6, 2020| date = September 2, 2020| url=https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56517}}</ref>
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