Interest on the National Debt · Monthly Treasury Statement
Interest on the Debt vs Defense Spending
Monthly Treasury data with the full history and fiscal-year comparisons.
Data through: · 139 months since March 2015
Latest month: September 2026
Net Interest, FY2026
$1.05T
+8.4% on a year earlier
National Defense, FY2026
$965B
net outlays, function 050
Interest as % of Defense
109%
trailing twelve months · 109% fiscal year to date
Crossover
Sep 2024
trailing twelve months · FY2024 the first full year
In fiscal year 2026 net interest was $1.05 trillion against $965 billion for national defense, 109% of the defense total. Net interest first passed defense on a trailing-twelve-month basis in September 2024 and for a whole fiscal year in fiscal year 2024.
Is interest on the national debt bigger than defense spending?
Net interest divided by national defense outlays over the same twelve months. Above 100%, interest exceeds defense spending.
Where interest passed defense
Net interest passed national defense on a trailing-twelve-month basis in September 2024 ($882 billion against $874 billion), and in fiscal year 2024 as a whole. It slipped back below defense in October and November 2024 and has been above it in every month since December 2024. The first single month above defense was January 2023.
Crossover dates: trailing twelve months through Sep 2024 · FY2024 · first single month, Jan 2023
Interest and defense in dollars
● net interest · ● national defense
By fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Net interest | National defense | Medicare | Health | Social Security | Difference | % of defense |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $1.05T | $965B | $1.07T | $1.03T | $1.67T | $86.6B | 109% |
| FY2025 | $970B | $917B | $997B | $979B | $1.58T | $53.7B | 106% |
| FY2024 | $882B | $874B | $874B | $912B | $1.46T | $7.6B | 101% |
| FY2023 | $659B | $821B | $848B | $889B | $1.35T | −$162B | 80% |
| FY2022 | $475B | $767B | $755B | $914B | $1.22T | −$292B | 62% |
| FY2021 | $352B | $755B | $696B | $797B | $1.13T | −$403B | 47% |
| FY2020 | $345B | $726B | $776B | $748B | $1.10T | −$381B | 47% |
| FY2019 | $376B | $688B | $651B | $585B | $1.04T | −$312B | 55% |
| FY2018 | $325B | $665B | $589B | $519B | $988B | −$340B | 49% |
| FY2017 | $263B | $600B | $597B | $533B | $945B | −$337B | 44% |
| FY2016 | $241B | $595B | $595B | $511B | $916B | −$355B | 40% |
| FY2015 | $223B | $591B | $546B | $482B | $888B | −$368B | 38% |
| FY2014 | $228B | $605B | — | — | — | −$378B | 38% |
Fiscal-year totals from the statements' own year-to-date columns. Difference = net interest less national defense; a positive number means interest cost more. % of defense = net interest as a share of defense.
What does the monthly comparison show?
| Month | Net interest | Defense | Medicare | Health | Social Security | % of defense | Interest, 12M | Defense, 12M | % of defense, 12M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $34.8B | $89.0B | $93.3B | $99.9B | $141B | 39% | $1.05T | $965B | 109% | |
| $85.6B | $72.5B | $24.8B | $80.5B | $141B | 118% | $1.05T | $952B | 111% | |
| $104B | $90.6B | $174B | $82.9B | $141B | 115% | $1.06T | $962B | 110% | |
| $104B | $82.2B | $103B | $97.1B | $147B | 127% | $1.05T | $947B | 111% | |
| $107B | $73.1B | $86.8B | $82.0B | $140B | 146% | $1.03T | $935B | 110% | |
| $96.6B | $76.8B | $87.7B | $74.6B | $139B | 126% | $1.01T | $938B | 107% | |
| $94.3B | $69.2B | $24.0B | $89.7B | $139B | 136% | $1.00T | $932B | 107% | |
| $78.6B | $70.6B | $75.3B | $80.8B | $138B | 111% | $999B | $930B | 107% | |
| $75.9B | $74.3B | $149B | $76.9B | $138B | 102% | $995B | $924B | 108% | |
| $91.5B | $102B | $78.4B | $91.8B | $134B | 90% | $999B | $922B | 108% | |
| $87.9B | $65.5B | $25.1B | $81.4B | $134B | 134% | $990B | $903B | 110% | |
| $90.9B | $99.9B | $151B | $88.1B | $134B | 91% | $981B | $913B | 107% | |
| $36.9B | $76.0B | $32.0B | $93.5B | $133B | 49% | $971B | $917B | 106% | |
| $92.7B | $82.6B | $141B | $79.9B | $134B | 112% | $972B | $917B | 106% | |
| $92.0B | $75.5B | $100B | $90.0B | $133B | 122% | $960B | $917B | 105% | |
| $84.3B | $69.5B | $23.9B | $80.4B | $141B | 121% | $948B | $913B | 104% | |
| $86.0B | $76.6B | $149B | $80.3B | $132B | 112% | $945B | $911B | 104% | |
| $89.4B | $70.1B | $81.9B | $76.3B | $132B | 127% | $946B | $913B | 104% | |
| $92.9B | $67.4B | $25.9B | $79.7B | $145B | 138% | $942B | $907B | 104% | |
| $74.2B | $64.6B | $75.0B | $77.4B | $129B | 115% | $928B | $910B | 102% | |
| $80.8B | $72.1B | $135B | $75.5B | $128B | 112% | $921B | $910B | 101% | |
| $81.8B | $83.0B | $26.8B | $81.3B | $124B | 99% | $908B | $898B | 101% | |
| $79.4B | $75.6B | $129B | $79.6B | $125B | 105% | $894B | $896B | 100% | |
| $80.3B | $103B | $77.1B | $85.0B | $125B | 78% | $886B | $890B | 100% |
Both columns are net outlays by budget function from the same Monthly Treasury Statement: Net Interest (900) and National Defense (050). % of defense = net interest as a share of defense; above 100% means interest cost more. 12M = the month and the eleven before it, summed.
Show 115 earlier months, back to March 2015+
| Month | Net interest | Defense |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2024 | $38.3B | $76.2B |
| Aug 2024 | $80.2B | $83.2B |
| Jul 2024 | $80.8B | $71.1B |
| Jun 2024 | $81.1B | $67.5B |
| May 2024 | $87.1B | $78.4B |
| Apr 2024 | $84.7B | $64.5B |
| Mar 2024 | $79.0B | $70.2B |
| Feb 2024 | $67.1B | $65.0B |
| Jan 2024 | $67.7B | $59.7B |
| Dec 2023 | $67.8B | $80.8B |
| Nov 2023 | $71.8B | $70.2B |
| Oct 2023 | $76.0B | $87.4B |
| Sep 2023 | $29.1B | $84.5B |
| Aug 2023 | $68.8B | $70.3B |
| Jul 2023 | $67.0B | $56.2B |
| Jun 2023 | $69.9B | $78.7B |
| May 2023 | $60.6B | $65.8B |
| Apr 2023 | $62.5B | $57.7B |
| Mar 2023 | $66.5B | $83.5B |
| Feb 2023 | $40.6B | $59.7B |
| Jan 2023 | $49.8B | $49.6B |
| Dec 2022 | $54.0B | $76.5B |
| Nov 2022 | $47.3B | $61.8B |
| Oct 2022 | $43.0B | $76.5B |
| Sep 2022 | $3.6B | $81.1B |
| Aug 2022 | $62.7B | $63.3B |
| Jul 2022 | $55.3B | $63.0B |
| Jun 2022 | $42.3B | $63.7B |
| May 2022 | $56.0B | $57.4B |
| Apr 2022 | $43.8B | $60.9B |
| Mar 2022 | $43.2B | $65.1B |
| Feb 2022 | $32.2B | $58.1B |
| Jan 2022 | $34.4B | $47.0B |
| Dec 2021 | $41.7B | $74.3B |
| Nov 2021 | $30.1B | $63.8B |
| Oct 2021 | $29.9B | $68.7B |
| Sep 2021 | −$5.9B | $67.2B |
| Aug 2021 | $41.8B | $52.0B |
| Jul 2021 | $37.9B | $66.5B |
| Jun 2021 | $38.3B | $64.7B |
| May 2021 | $36.9B | $52.1B |
| Apr 2021 | $34.0B | $70.6B |
| Mar 2021 | $31.3B | $70.3B |
| Feb 2021 | $25.7B | $53.5B |
| Jan 2021 | $25.2B | $53.6B |
| Dec 2020 | $25.6B | $70.2B |
| Nov 2020 | $29.3B | $54.5B |
| Oct 2020 | $32.4B | $79.7B |
| Sep 2020 | −$1.3B | $66.2B |
| Aug 2020 | $36.5B | $51.8B |
| Jul 2020 | $29.6B | $64.9B |
| Jun 2020 | $18.5B | $58.1B |
| May 2020 | $25.8B | $61.1B |
| Apr 2020 | $35.9B | $58.1B |
| Mar 2020 | $37.8B | $61.6B |
| Feb 2020 | $30.6B | $54.8B |
| Jan 2020 | $31.7B | $53.4B |
| Dec 2019 | $34.5B | $62.0B |
| Nov 2019 | $32.3B | $62.9B |
| Oct 2019 | $32.5B | $71.4B |
| Sep 2019 | −$3.5B | $55.8B |
| Aug 2019 | $35.7B | $63.6B |
| Jul 2019 | $35.0B | $55.7B |
| Jun 2019 | $39.7B | $51.0B |
| May 2019 | $40.5B | $64.7B |
| Apr 2019 | $38.0B | $54.8B |
| Mar 2019 | $36.7B | $58.1B |
| Feb 2019 | $24.8B | $57.1B |
| Jan 2019 | $29.3B | $52.5B |
| Dec 2018 | $34.2B | $56.9B |
| Nov 2018 | $33.4B | $62.2B |
| Oct 2018 | $32.0B | $69.0B |
| Sep 2018 | −$7.4B | $54.4B |
| Aug 2018 | $31.9B | $64.6B |
| Jul 2018 | $35.3B | $48.6B |
| Jun 2018 | $32.4B | $65.4B |
| May 2018 | $31.5B | $55.8B |
| Apr 2018 | $35.2B | $46.8B |
| Mar 2018 | $33.2B | $58.3B |
| Feb 2018 | $23.3B | $48.7B |
| Jan 2018 | $25.3B | $40.1B |
| Dec 2017 | $24.0B | $59.1B |
| Nov 2017 | $31.5B | $47.5B |
| Oct 2017 | $28.5B | $59.6B |
| Sep 2017 | −$11.8B | $57.2B |
| Aug 2017 | $25.3B | $52.0B |
| Jul 2017 | $25.7B | $43.1B |
| Jun 2017 | $25.7B | $57.8B |
| May 2017 | $25.0B | $49.0B |
| Apr 2017 | $27.4B | $40.4B |
| Mar 2017 | $29.9B | $57.7B |
| Feb 2017 | $21.2B | $45.9B |
| Jan 2017 | $21.7B | $40.3B |
| Dec 2016 | $24.1B | $56.9B |
| Nov 2016 | $25.2B | $48.0B |
| Oct 2016 | $23.4B | $52.0B |
| Sep 2016 | −$17.0B | $60.3B |
| Aug 2016 | $26.3B | $48.7B |
| Jul 2016 | $28.0B | $46.9B |
| Jun 2016 | $27.1B | $48.8B |
| May 2016 | $27.9B | $42.3B |
| Apr 2016 | $22.2B | $49.3B |
| Mar 2016 | $23.9B | $54.4B |
| Feb 2016 | $18.8B | $44.3B |
| Jan 2016 | $20.7B | $39.9B |
| Dec 2015 | $21.4B | $56.6B |
| Nov 2015 | $21.4B | $43.4B |
| Oct 2015 | $20.0B | $60.4B |
| Sep 2015 | −$11.3B | $55.1B |
| Aug 2015 | $25.4B | $40.4B |
| Jul 2015 | $27.5B | $51.5B |
| Jun 2015 | $22.3B | $49.3B |
| May 2015 | $27.5B | $48.2B |
| Apr 2015 | $25.1B | $48.2B |
| Mar 2015 | $15.7B | $49.2B |
Earlier months show net interest and defense. Full monthly measures are in the monthly JSON records.
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Treasury figures are public domain. TFTC's compilation, calculations and chart are licensed under CC BY 4.0. Credit TFTC with a link to this page when reusing those contributions.
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Data: TFTC Interest on the Debt vs Defense Spending (https://www.tftc.io/federal-interest-expense/vs-defense), from US Treasury Fiscal Data. Treasury figures are public domain; TFTC's compilation, calculations and chart are CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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<a href="https://www.tftc.io/federal-interest-expense/vs-defense"><img src="https://www.tftc.io/federal-interest-expense/vs-defense/email-card" width="600" alt="Interest on the Debt vs Defense Spending, chart from TFTC" /></a> <p>Data: <a href="https://www.tftc.io/federal-interest-expense/vs-defense">TFTC</a>, from US Treasury Fiscal Data. Treasury figures are public domain; TFTC's compilation, calculations and chart are <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>.</p>
Need the raw series? The full monthly record is open JSON at /federal-interest-expense/data.json and the latest month of each feed, the current and last complete fiscal years, the gross interest split, the average rate, the defense crossover and records are at /federal-interest-expense/latest.json. Sources, formulas and changes are on the methodology page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the US spend more on interest or on defense?
When did interest on the debt pass defense spending?
Are interest and defense measured the same way here?
Data: US Department of the Treasury, via Fiscal Data: Monthly Treasury Statement, Table 9. Source figures are public domain; fiscal-year totals are the statements' own year-to-date columns, trailing-twelve-month totals and shares are TFTC's arithmetic. Net versus gross interest is explained on the overview page. Full record as open JSON, the newest month and fiscal year as latest.json (CC BY 4.0). Sources and arithmetic: methodology and changelog. Not investment advice.