The United States has crossed a grim threshold: The national debt now exceeds the size of the entire American economy. As of March 31, debt held by the public stood at $31.27 trillion, while nominal GDP over the prior 12-month period was an estimated $31.22 trillion—pushing the debt-to-GDP ratio to 100.2%, according to a press release issued Thursday by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), based on new data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Total gross national debt—including intragovernmental obligations—has already surpassed $39 trillion, a figure that amounts to roughly $114,000 per American or $289,000 per household, according to the Senate Joint Economic Committee’s monthly debt update as of April 3, 2026.
