Federal budget

Federal debt by president (% of GDP)

Total public debt (including debt held by federal trust funds) as a share of GDP.

122.6% latest, Q1 2026

Source: Office of Management and Budget / Fed. Reserve Bank of St. Louis, via FRED GFDEGDQ188S. Quarterly data, fetched Oct 19, 2026.

Since 1980, federal debt as a share of GDP ranged from 30.6% in Q3 1981 under Ronald Reagan to 132.7% in Q2 2020 under Donald Trump (1st term). Of the 8 completed terms with data, federal debt as a share of GDP rose fastest under Donald Trump (1st term), at +5.24 pts/yr against +1.14 pts/yr in the four years before, and fell fastest under Joe Biden, at −1.05 pts/yr against +5.24 pts/yr in the four years before. So far under Donald Trump (2nd term), it has gone from 121.4% in Q4 2024 to 122.6% in Q1 2026.

By presidential term

Federal debt (% of GDP), term by term: every term lined up from inauguration on one chart.

Value at the last full period before inauguration and at the end of the term, with the yearly rate of change. The second column is the rate of change over the four years before the term: the trend they inherited. Remember the lag: a term's first year mostly reflects the previous one's policies.

More federal budget indicators

• Federal surplus or deficit by president
• National debt by president

Events that bear on this indicator

1. Jul 4, 2025 Law
   One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Makes the 2017 individual tax cuts permanent, adds new deductions and cuts Medicaid and SNAP spending.
2. Mar 11, 2021 Law
   American Rescue Plan. About $1.9 trillion in relief, including a temporarily expanded child tax credit and larger ACA premium subsidies.
3. Mar 27, 2020 Law
   CARES Act. About $2.2 trillion in relief: stimulus checks, expanded unemployment benefits and the Paycheck Protection Program.
4. Dec 22, 2017 Law
   Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Corporate rate cut from 35% to 21%, temporary individual rate cuts, and the ACA's individual-mandate penalty set to zero from 2019.
5. Feb 17, 2009 Law
   American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. About $800 billion in stimulus: tax cuts, aid to states, infrastructure and safety-net spending.
6. Oct 3, 2008 Law
   TARP bank rescue (EESA). Authorizes up to $700 billion to stabilize the financial system.
7. Dec 8, 2003 Law
   Medicare Part D created. The Medicare Modernization Act adds an unfunded prescription-drug benefit, starting 2006.
8. May 28, 2003 Law
   JGTRRA. Accelerates the 2001 rate cuts and cuts taxes on dividends and capital gains.
9. Sep 11, 2001 Shock
   September 11 attacks. Followed by the wars in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003), largely financed by borrowing.
10. Jun 7, 2001 Law
    EGTRRA (Bush tax cuts). Broad income tax rate cuts, phased in and set to expire after 2010.
11. Aug 5, 1997 Law
    Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Spending restraint, mostly in Medicare, paired with the Taxpayer Relief Act's capital-gains cut and child tax credit.
12. Aug 10, 1993 Law
    Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. Raises the top income tax rate to 39.6% and expands the EITC; passed without a single Republican vote.
13. Nov 5, 1990 Law
    Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. Bush signs tax increases and spending caps, breaking his "no new taxes" pledge; introduces pay-as-you-go budget rules.
14. Aug 13, 1981 Law
    Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981. Cuts the top income tax rate from 70% to 50% and phases in broad rate cuts and indexing.