September 2026 Snapshot Of Who Owns The U.S. National Debt

The U.S. government's 2026 fiscal year came to an end on 30 September 2026. On that date, after tallying up the entire the national debt to the penny, the federal government's total public debt outstanding totaled $40,171,825,101,340.31.

Compared to a year earlier, the national debt increased by 6.7%, or about $2.532 trillion, above where it stood on 30 September 2025.

To whom do you suppose the federal government owes all that money?

Wonder no more, because here's the basic breakdown! The following chart provides a first estimate of who the U.S. government's biggest creditors are at the end of its 2026 fiscal year, along with the portion of the $40.172 trillion national debt they are owed.

This is a first estimate because it will take about six more months before the portion of the national debt that is owed to foreign interests is properly allocated to the nations to whom it is owed. Right now, the U.S. Treasury Department knows the total amount of what it owes to those foreign interests, but this initial data indicates the nations where that debt is held, not which foreign institutions lent the money.

It will be months before all the numbers for 2026 are finalized. This chart presents a first estimate of who owns the U.S. national debt, which should be within a few tenths of a percent for most of the major holders of debt securities issued by the U.S. government.

That said, let's get to the overall picture of to whom the U.S. government owes the most money....

The Overall Picture

76.8% of the national debt is owed to U.S.-based institutions and individuals. 23.2% is owed to foreign interests, which is the lowest share since 2023's 22.9% foreign ownership. Foreign ownership of the national debt has been declining since 2014 when it accounted for 34% of the total national debt.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is once again the U.S. government's single largest creditor holding U.S. government-issued debt securities worth 11.4% of the U.S. government's entire total public debt outstanding, which increased from 11.2% a year earlier. The Fed owns 22% of all U.S. government-issued debt securities held by U.S.-based institutions and individuals by itself.

Grouping U.S. individuals and institutions such as banks, insurance companies, investment funds, corporations, and individuals together, we find they collectively increased their share of the national debt from 50.4% in 2024 to 51.7% in 2026.

Three major U.S. government-controlled funds make up the balance of the money owed by the U.S. government to U.S.-based entities. Social Security's Old Age and Survivors' Insurance Trust Fund accounts for the largest chunk of this debt, dropping from 6.4 This decline coincides with the ongoing depletion of its Old Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund, which has run in the red in every year since 2009.

The combined share of the U.S. national debt held by the government's military (5.4%) and civilian (3.0%) employee retirement trust funds grew from 7.7% to 8.4% of the total national debt from 2025 to 2026.

Foreign Holdings

The share of the national debt held by Japan and China, the two largest foreign holders of U.S. government-issued debt securities, declined. Japan's share fell from 3.1% to 2.7%, while China and Hong Kong's combined share dipped from 2.6% to 2.1% between 2025 and 2026.

The major international banking centers of the U.K. and Belgium, Ireland, and Luxembourg saw their reported share of U.S. government-issued debt increase from a combined 5.5% to 6.0% year-over-year. Meanwhile, all other foreign creditors saw their share of ownership of the U.S. national debt decline from 13.2% to 12.4%.

About the Data

The U.S. government's total public debt outstanding is the value recorded for 30 September 2026, the final day of the government's 2026 fiscal year, which also applies for the portion of the national debt held by the government-operated trust funds for Social Security, military and civilian government employees. Data for foreign holdings is based on estimates through August 2026 that were available on 20 October 2026. The Federal Reserve's holdings are those recorded on 30 September 2026.