WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Joint Economic Committee released its Monthly Debt Update for April.

As of April 3, 2026, total gross national debt is $38.98 trillion. Relative to one year ago, total gross national debt is $2.77 trillion higher; relative to five years ago, it is $10.90 trillion higher. Over the past year, the rate of increase averaged $7.58 billion per day, $315.67 million per hour, $5.26 million per minute, or $87,685.82 per second. An increase of another trillion dollars is expected within five months should the same average rate of growth seen over the past three years remain.

The increase in gross national debt over the past year amounts to $8,086.88 per person or $20,515.32 per household. Total gross national debt amounts to $114,000 per person or $289,204 per household.

As of March 2026, the average interest rate on the total marketable national debt is 3.365 percent. One year ago, it was 3.347 percent; five years ago, it was 1.499 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 $252.94 billion, an average of $21.08 billion per month. Net interest as a share of outlays is forecast by the Congressional Budget Office to be 13.95 percent in FY2026, 14.25 percent in FY2027, and 14.94 percent in FY2028.

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.

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