Federal Debt Held by the Public as a Share of GDP (1797-2011)	

Year	Percent
1797	16.5
1798	16.0
1799	15.8
1800	15.1
1801	13.3
1802	13.9
1803	14.1
1804	13.2
1805	10.9
1806	10.0
1807	9.5
1808	8.9
1809	7.4
1810	6.2
1811	5.7
1812	6.8
1813	8.2
1814	8.5
1815	10.2
1816	9.6
1817	7.8
1818	7.0
1819	7.4
1820	8.3
1821	9.1
1822	8.1
1823	8.3
1824	7.6
1825	6.5
1826	6.3
1827	5.7
1828	4.8
1829	3.9
1830	3.2
1831	1.8
1832	0.5
1833	0.3
1834	0.0
1835	0.0
1836	0.0
1837	0.2
1838	0.6
1839	0.2
1840	0.3
1841	0.8
1842	1.2
1843	1.5
1844	1.0
1845	0.7
1846	1.2
1847	1.7
1848	2.2
1849	2.5
1850	2.3
1851	2.4
1852	2.0
1853	1.4
1854	1.1
1855	0.9
1856	0.7
1857	0.9
1858	1.2
1859	1.5
1860	1.9
1861	7.2
1862	16.8
1863	23.8
1864	25.6
1865	31.0
1866	31.4
1867	31.4
1868	30.5
1869	30.0
1870	27.9
1871	25.7
1872	24.4
1873	23.2
1874	24.0
1875	23.7
1876	24.1
1877	23.9
1878	25.5
1879	23.0
1880	18.4
1881	16.8
1882	14.3
1883	13.5
1884	13.3
1885	13.2
1886	12.4
1887	11.2
1888	10.2
1889	8.6
1890	7.8
1891	7.0
1892	6.6
1893	6.8
1894	7.9
1895	7.9
1896	8.5
1897	8.0
1898	8.4
1899	7.5
1900	6.6
1901	5.7
1902	5.4
1903	5.0
1904	4.7
1905	4.3
1906	4.0
1907	4.0
1908	4.3
1909	3.8
1910	3.7
1911	3.6
1912	3.4
1913	3.2
1914	3.5
1915	3.3
1916	2.7
1917	13.3
1918	30.2
1919	33.4
1920	27.3
1921	31.6
1922	31.1
1923	25.2
1924	23.5
1925	21.6
1926	19.0
1927	18.0
1928	17.0
1929	14.9
1930	16.5
1931	22.3
1932	34.5
1933	39.1
1934	44.0
1935	42.9
1936	43.0
1937	40.1
1938	42.8
1939	43.0
1940	42.7
1941	43.3
1942	62.0
1943	77.1
1944	95.7
1945	112.7
1946	102.6
1947	90.4
1948	79.9
1949	81.4
1950	73.7
1951	63.7
1952	61.8
1953	60.2
1954	60.7
1955	55.5
1956	51.2
1957	48.1
1958	49.5
1959	47.0
1960	44.8
1961	44.6
1962	42.9
1963	41.4
1964	39.0
1965	36.5
1966	33.7
1967	33.4
1968	31.2
1969	28.5
1970	28.0
1971	28.1
1972	27.4
1973	26.0
1974	23.9
1975	25.3
1976	27.5
1977	27.8
1978	27.4
1979	25.6
1980	26.1
1981	25.8
1982	28.7
1983	33.1
1984	34.0
1985	36.4
1986	39.5
1987	40.6
1988	41.0
1989	40.6
1990	42.1
1991	45.3
1992	48.1
1993	49.3
1994	49.2
1995	49.1
1996	48.4
1997	45.9
1998	43.0
1999	39.4
2000	34.7
2001	32.5
2002	33.6
2003	35.6
2004	36.8
2005	36.9
2006	36.6
2007	36.3
2008	40.5
2009	54.1
2010	62.8
2011	67.7


Source: Source: Congressional Budget Office and Office of Management and Budget. 
	

Notes: Data from 1797 through 1969 available through CBO, Long-Term Budget Outlook June 2009 (see Additional Info). Data for 1970 through 2011 available through OMB, Historical Tables, Table 7.1.  For 1797-1969, year refers to calendar year. From 1970-2011, year refers to fiscal year. For the years prior to 1929, CBO notes they estimated GDP from several sources.