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Release · 2026-10-27 to 2026-10-28

The national debt topped $40.5 trillion for the first time, reaching $40.528 trillion on October 26

Treasury Fiscal Data's Debt to the Penny lists total public debt outstanding at 40,528,358,939,415.85 dollars as of Monday, October 26, 2026, up 65,207,042,166.66 dollars from 40,463,151,897,249.19 dollars on Friday, October 23. That is the highest total in the dataset and the first record date above 40.5 trillion dollars; the October 23 total was itself the prior record. On October 26, debt held by the public was 32,635,294,814,294.48 dollars, up 24.65 billion dollars from October 23, while intragovernmental holdings were 7,893,064,125,121.37 dollars, up 40.56 billion dollars. Total public debt outstanding is up 356,533,838,075.54 dollars from 40,171,825,101,340.31 dollars on September 30, 2026, the last day of fiscal year 2026.

Total public debt outstanding
$40,528,358,939,415.85 2026-10-26 · prior $40,463,151,897,249.19 (2026-10-23)
Debt held by the public
$32,635,294,814,294.48 2026-10-26 · prior $32,610,649,676,158.39 (2026-10-23)
Intragovernmental holdings
$7,893,064,125,121.37 2026-10-26 · prior $7,852,502,221,090.8 (2026-10-23)
Total public debt outstanding, end of fiscal 2026
$40,171,825,101,340.31 2026-09-30
Total public debt outstanding$ billions$40,300B$40,350B$40,400B$40,450B$40,500B$40,550BOct 13Oct 14Oct 15Oct 16Oct 19Oct 20Oct 21Oct 22Oct 23Oct 26Treasury Fiscal Data Debt to the Penny, October 13 to October 26, 2026 · vertical axis does not start at zero
Total public debt outstanding. Treasury Fiscal Data Debt to the Penny, October 13 to October 26, 2026. Share card.

Source: Debt to the Penny API, record dates September 30 to October 26, 2026 — U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Also: Debt to the Penny.

all 4 figures found at the source
  • found Total public debt outstanding = $40,528,358,939,415.85 — at U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service
  • found Debt held by the public = $32,635,294,814,294.48 — at U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service
  • found Intragovernmental holdings = $7,893,064,125,121.37 — at U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service
  • found Total public debt outstanding, end of fiscal 2026 = $40,171,825,101,340.31 — at U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Researched by Grok, checked against each source by an automated pass, edited by Clem Ziroli III. Published Oct 27, 2026, updated Oct 28, 2026.

This page is one print. The daily brief for October 27, 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.