The U.S. national debt crossed 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of March, with signs that it might cross the record of 106 percent of GDP reached immediately after World War II.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis released data on the national debt reaching 100.2 percent of GDP on Thursday, noting that debt held by the public on March 31 was $31.27 trillion. GDP over the last year was $31.22 trillion.
The national debt was at 99.5 percent of GDP at the end of fiscal 2025 in September.
Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said the borrowing did not come from “a seismic global conflict, but rather a total bipartisan abdication of making hard choices.”
“It’s happened — the national debt is now larger than the U.S. economy, about twice the historic average,” she said in a statement reacting to the news.
“We’ve heard plenty of alarm bells in the past few years about our fiscal path, but this one rings especially loudly,” MacGuineas continued. “The real question is whether or not our leaders in Washington will listen.”
A daily statement from the Treasury Department last month revealed that the U.S. national debt surpassed $39 trillion, a record reached just five months after the debt sailed past the $38 trillion mark.
The government spends $1.33 for every dollar collected as revenue, with the budget deficit projected at $1.9 trillion this year, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Marc Goldwein, senior vice president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, told the Journal that it is “uncharted territory” and a “scary place to be.”
“The higher we allow our debt to grow, the more we erode our own prosperity and that of future generations,” MacGuineas said in her statement. “Rising debt compromises affordability by slowing income growth, pushing up interest rates, and increasing inflationary pressures. Debt squeezes our budgets with massive interest costs.”
She added that rising debt exposes the U.S. “to challenges from geopolitical rivals” and will require “corrective action,” otherwise it could kick off a fiscal crisis MacGuineas called “devastating.”
In February, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) warned that if remained unchanged, the debt held by the public will rise to 108 percent of GDP by 2030 and 120 percent by 2036. The deficit would reach $3.1 trillion by 2036.
“Our budget projections continue to indicate that the fiscal trajectory is not sustainable,” CBO Director Phillip Swagel said in a statement at the time.
The CBO determined that the changes were driven by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law last July, as well as higher tariffs and lower immigration rates.
This story was updated to clarify the attribution for quotes from Marc Goldwein and Maya MacGuineas.
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