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Total public debt outstanding was $40.388 trillion on October 16, after a $59.09 billion rise a day earlier

Treasury Fiscal Data's Debt to the Penny lists total public debt outstanding at 40,387,508,795,231.67 dollars as of Friday, October 16, 2026, down 808,879,840.24 dollars from 40,388,317,675,071.91 dollars on Thursday, October 15. The October 15 record was itself up 59,087,847,530.89 dollars from 40,329,229,827,541.02 dollars on October 14. On October 16, debt held by the public was 32,532,409,708,643.41 dollars, down 5.83 billion dollars from October 15, and intragovernmental holdings were 7,855,099,086,588.26 dollars, up 5.02 billion dollars. The October 15 and October 16 records were not filed separately before this package; the last filed record was October 14.

Total public debt outstanding
$40,387,508,795,231.67 2026-10-16 · prior $40,388,317,675,071.91 (2026-10-15)
Debt held by the public
$32,532,409,708,643.41 2026-10-16 · prior $32,538,236,547,452.08 (2026-10-15)
Intragovernmental holdings
$7,855,099,086,588.26 2026-10-16 · prior $7,850,081,127,619.83 (2026-10-15)
Total public debt outstanding$$40,300,000,000,000$40,320,000,000,000$40,340,000,000,000$40,360,000,000,000$40,380,000,000,000$40,400,000,000,000Oct 8Oct 9Oct 13Oct 14Oct 15Oct 16Treasury Fiscal Data Debt to the Penny, October 8 to October 16, 2026 · vertical axis does not start at zero
Total public debt outstanding. Treasury Fiscal Data Debt to the Penny, October 8 to October 16, 2026. Share card.

Source: Debt to the Penny API, record dates October 13 to October 16, 2026 — U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Also: Debt to the Penny.

all 3 figures found at the source
  • found Total public debt outstanding = $40,387,508,795,231.67 — at U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service
  • found Debt held by the public = $32,532,409,708,643.41 — at U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service
  • found Intragovernmental holdings = $7,855,099,086,588.26 — at U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Related: Total public debt outstanding

Researched by Grok, checked against each source by an automated pass, edited by Clem Ziroli III. Published Oct 19, 2026, updated Oct 21, 2026.

This page is one print. The daily brief for October 19, 2026 is the editor's cut of what mattered that day. Figures are as the named sources printed them. The methodology says how this page is made and what is checked.