Foreign-Held Federal Debt (Share)
30.0%
· Oct 2025
econ
scout
1969-70 Recession · Dec 1969 – Nov 1970
1973-75 Recession · Nov 1973 – Mar 1975
1980 Recession · Jan 1980 – Jul 1980
1981-82 Recession · Jul 1981 – Nov 1982
1990-91 Recession · Jul 1990 – Mar 1991
2001 Recession · Mar 2001 – Nov 2001
Global Financial Crisis · Dec 2007 – Jun 2009
COVID-19 Recession · Feb 2020 – Apr 2020
10%
20%
30%
40%
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
30.0%
Foreign-Held Federal Debt (Share) — one value per year; US recessions are shaded on the chart.
Year
Foreign-Held Federal Debt (Share)
1970
6.8%
1971
14.5%
1972
16.4%
1973
16.1%
1974
16.7%
1975
15.2%
1976
15.4%
1977
19.4%
1978
21.5%
1979
18.1%
1980
17.6%
1981
16.5%
1982
15.1%
1983
14.2%
1984
14.0%
1985
14.1%
1986
14.5%
1987
15.3%
1988
17.3%
1989
19.0%
1990
19.2%
1991
18.4%
1992
18.4%
1993
19.2%
1994
18.8%
1995
22.7%
1996
28.8%
1997
32.3%
1998
33.8%
1999
34.1%
2000
29.7%
2001
30.6%
2002
33.9%
2003
37.7%
2004
42.0%
2005
43.1%
2006
42.9%
2007
45.8%
2008
48.3%
2009
47.2%
2010
47.2%
2011
47.9%
2012
48.1%
2013
46.9%
2014
47.3%
2015
44.8%
2016
41.6%
2017
41.9%
2018
38.9%
2019
39.8%
2020
32.7%
2021
33.4%
2022
29.3%
2023
29.5%
2024
29.9%
2025
30.0%
Source: FRED · FDHBFIN/FYGFDPUN · econscout.com