Who Owns the United States Debt: 2026 Data

The short answer: A big chunk of it is held by the US government itself. The rest is held by private investors and foreign governments. Foreign governments hold about 23% of US public debt as of early 2026.

The following data was taken from a US Treasury Department website. It shows the ownership of America’s national debt, in billions of dollars:

• Federal Reserve and government accounts - 11,840
• Total privately held - 22,950
• Foreign and international - 8,450
• Mutual funds - 4,920
• Depository institutions - 1,650
• State and local governments - 1,580
• Private pension funds - 920
• State and local government pension funds - 410
• Insurance companies - 445
• US savings bonds - 172
• Other investors - 4,403

Current US National Debt

According to data published in February 2026, America’s national debt has hit a record high of $37.8 trillion. That was a $15.8 trillion increase since President Trump was inaugurated in January 2017 and a continued climb through the Biden and subsequent administrations. To put the pace of this growth in perspective, during the 2025 calendar year, the US national debt increased by an average of $8.2 billion per day.

Public debt occurs when there is a deficit, which happens when government spending exceeds government revenues. When there is a deficit, the government doesn’t have the freedom to let its payments slide until next month as we do. Instead, the federal government issues securities to be sold as a line of credit. Public debt is the cumulative total of budget deficits over the years.

Public debt was equivalent to about 77% of US GDP at the end of 2018, compared to 35% in Q2 of 2008, shortly before the Great Recession. By the end of 2025, that figure reached approximately 124% of GDP. As of January 2026, the debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to reach 130% by 2030 if current legislative spending trends and high interest rates persist.

National Debt Breakdown

A nation’s debt is the sum of all its previous deficits. The current deficit represents the difference between the money a nation spends and the revenue it collects with taxes, fees, interest, and other sources. The hole in the budget is filled by debt, usually in the form of government bonds and notes.

Total public debt is calculated by adding the two types of public debt: debt held by the public and intragovernmental holdings.

The figures from the US Treasury Department.

Intragovernmental Holdings

Intragovernmental holdings represent the debt the government owes to its own agencies.

Currently, intragovernmental holdings surpassed the $7 trillion mark in early 2025. According to the Treasury Department’s official statement of public debt for January 2026, here are the top four agencies that the US government owes money to:

• Social Security’s federal old-age and survivors insurance trust fund - $2,650 billion
• The Office of Personnel Management’s civil service retirement and disability fund - $995 billion
• The Department Of Defense military retirement fund - $1,420 billion
• Medicare’s medical insurance trust funds - $380 billion

How Do Intragovernmental Holdings Work?

Some government agencies reap more revenue from taxes than they are authorized to spend. Others receive money for services that will be rendered at a future date. This is the case for pension funds and Medicare services, for example.

These agencies do not sit on the extra funds; they reinvest them into government securities, thus technically contributing to US federal debt. They essentially lend the extra funds they obtain to the federal government. The government repays its own agencies with interest.

Congress could, however, cut the obligations the federal government has toward its own agencies by altering the law.

The biggest lender (and debt holder) among federal agencies is the Social Security trust fund. It consists of the federal old-age and survivors insurance trust fund and the federal disability insurance trust fund.

The Portion of American Debt Held by Foreign Countries

A total of $8,450.5 billion of US debt is being held by foreign countries as of January 2026. This is the most current list:

• Japan: $1,150.0 billion

• Mainland China: $760.0 billion

• United Kingdom: $780.5 billion

• Luxembourg: $410.2 billion

• Canada: $360.8 billion

• Belgium: $330.4 billion

• Ireland: $320.7 billion

• Cayman Islands: $310.2 billion

• Switzerland: $305.9 billion

• France: $295.5 billion

• Taiwan: $265.1 billion

• India: $245.3 billion

• Hong Kong: $220.9 billion

• Brazil: $215.7 billion

• Singapore: $205.3 billion

Japan now holds more US debt than China, with $1,150 billion as of early 2026. China’s holdings have significantly decreased to $760 billion, which equates to about 2% of America’s total public debt.

A big part of American public debt is situated in tax havens like Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands, and Ireland. Big corporations build headquarters in these parts of the world to avoid paying steep corporate taxes in America.

How Much of the Total US Debt is Reduced by Gifts?

The US government accepts gifts as a form of reducing public debt.

In 2018, gifts reduced the US national debt by $775,654. In 2025, total annual contributions toward reducing the debt via "Gifts to the United States" totaled $5.4 million, reflecting a growing (though statistically marginal) public awareness of the fiscal situation.

These gifts can be in the form of cash or as obligations that are immediately cashed in and used to reduce the public debt. Every other kind of property is also accepted, on the condition that it is immediately sold and that the proceeds go toward reducing the US public debt.

The giver of a gift can be a living person or the gift can be bequeathed to the government via a deceased person’s will.