The gross US national debt surpassed $34T earlier this week for the first time, according to a Treasury Department announcement Tuesday, an increase of $1T since September and $14T since early 2020. The US currently adds roughly $5B to its debt each day, and recent estimates suggest the debt will reach $50T by 2033. See an explainer here.

The federal government will pay roughly $800B to service its debt this year amid higher interest rates—equal to approximately 18% of 2023 federal revenues. Close to $8T of the total debt is intragovernmental—debt the government owes itself, the bulk of which comprises trust funds that pay out Social Security, Medicare, and others.

Economists often compare a nation’s public debt to its gross domestic product—the total value of the goods and services produced—as an indicator of its ability to pay it down. US debt is currently approximately 123% of its GDP, one of the highest in the world. A congressional limit on federal debt was suspended in June until January 2025.