Bureau of Economic Analysis data shows public debt reached $31.27T while GDP stood at $31.22T as of March
The U.S. national debt has now surpassed the size of the U.S. economy, a historic threshold that hasn’t been crossed since the conclusion of World War II.
Data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday showed that the national debt held by the public reached $31.27 trillion as of March 31, while nominal gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $31.22 trillion for the 12-month period ending in March.
That pushed the debt held by the public as a percentage of GDP above 100%, meaning that the public debt is now larger than the size of the U.S. economy. Public debt as a share of GDP is a measure preferred by economists in assessing a country’s government debt burden because it excludes debt held in government accounts.
With the latest data showing the public debt eclipsing the size of the U.S. economy, the federal government is quickly approaching the all-time record debt to GDP percentage of 106%, which was set in 1946 as the U.S. was in the process of demobilizing after the end of World War II.
The national debt held by the public as a share of GDP topped 100% at the end of March, and the debt now exceeds the size of the economy. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a 10-year budget and economic outlook earlier this year that projected the U.S. will break the post-WWII record in 2030 with the debt held by the public estimated at 108% that year. A decade from now, debt held by the public as a share of GDP is projected to reach 120%.
Making the budget picture even worse, the CBO estimates that the debt held by the public is expected to grow faster than U.S. GDP as projected in the years ahead, which could have far-reaching implications for the nation’s fiscal and economic outlook.
It said that dynamic could slow economic growth and reduce private investment, while hiking interest costs from servicing the debt.