WASHINGTON, DC –Today, the Joint Economic Committee released its Monthly Debt Update for January, including the national debt’s interest rate and composition as of January 8, 2026.

As of January 7, 2026, total gross national debt is $38.43 trillion. Relative to one year ago, total gross national debt is $2.25 trillion higher; relative to five years ago, it is $10.73 trillion higher. Over the past year, the rate of increase averaged $8.03 billion per day, $334.48 million per hour, $5.57 million per minute, or $92,912.33 per second. 

The increase in gross national debt over the past year amounts to $6,624.14 per person or $16,719.43 per household while total gross national debt amounts to $112,966 per person or $285,127 per household.

Assuming the average daily rate of growth over the past three years continues, the U.S. will reach $39 trillion by approximately April 5, 2026. At that rate, an increase of another trillion dollars would be reached in approximately 155 days.

As of December 2025, the average interest rate on the total marketable national debt is 3.362 percent. One year ago, it was 3.336 percent; five years ago, it was 1.552 percent. This means that, today, the U.S. is paying more just in interest payments than it was even one year ago, and significantly more than it was five years ago.

Interest rates have a significant impact in how much the U.S. pays on debt. The total amount of interest paid to trust funds over the past 12 months was $261.43 billion, an average of $21.79 billion per month. Net interest has almost tripled over the last five years and the Congressional Budget Office forecasts that net interest as a share of outlays will be 13.85 percent in FY2026, 14.11 percent in FY2027, and 14.52 percent in FY2028.

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Please see the full Monthly Debt Update for greater detail of the nation's debt profile.

Please see our Daily Debt Monitor for more information on the growing national debt.