National Debt API Reference

Overview

National Debt sources data directly from the US Treasury Fiscal Data API, which is updated daily. Historical data is available back to 1993, enabling trend analysis and historical comparisons.

Endpoint

One host, one path per API. The block below shows this call in four languages; every one of them is the same HTTP request. Making requests covers the timeouts, retries and parameter rules that apply to all of them. The SDKs wrap the same call in a typed client.

GEThttps://api.apiverve.com/v1/nationaldebt

curl "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/nationaldebt?date=2023-06-15" \
  -H "x-api-key: your_api_key_here"

const res = await fetch('https://api.apiverve.com/v1/nationaldebt?date=2023-06-15', {
  headers: { 'x-api-key': 'your_api_key_here' },
});

if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${res.status} ${await res.text()}`);

const { data } = await res.json();
console.log(data);

import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/nationaldebt?date=2023-06-15",
    headers={"x-api-key": "your_api_key_here"},
    timeout=15,
)
res.raise_for_status()

print(res.json()["data"])

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/nationaldebt?date=2023-06-15", nil)
	req.Header.Set("x-api-key", "your_api_key_here")

	res, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	out, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(out))
}

Replace your_api_key_here with the key from your dashboard. When the inputs arrive as a list rather than one at a time, batch requests run up to 200 of them through this same API in a single call.

Authentication

Send your key in the x-api-key header. That is the only auth step — there is no token exchange and no per-endpoint scope to configure. Authentication covers creating, rotating and revoking keys.

401 is the only auth verdict

A 401 means the key is missing, invalid or expired. A 403 means the key is valid but not permitted here — blocked by a key restriction or an IP allow-list. Running out of credits is a 429.

Parameters

Sent in the query string. Premium parameters are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them.

Parameter	Type	Description
`date`Optional	string	Optional date in YYYY-MM-DD format for historical lookup. Omit for current data. date

Response

Every API returns the same three top-level keys, so one response handler covers your whole integration: status, error and data. Only data changes shape. Response format covers the envelope, the other output formats and how premium fields are withheld.

Sample response

{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "date": "2024-02-01",
    "totalDebt": 34186489456789.12,
    "totalDebtFormatted": "$34.19 trillion",
    "publicDebt": 26912345678901.23,
    "publicDebtFormatted": "$26.91 trillion",
    "intragovernmentalDebt": 7274143777887.89,
    "intragovernmentalDebtFormatted": "$7.27 trillion",
    "perCapita": 102049,
    "perCapitaFormatted": "$102,049",
    "population": 335000000,
    "publicDebtRatio": 78.73,
    "perHousehold": 255122.24,
    "perHouseholdFormatted": "$255,122"
  }
}

Response fields

Paths are relative to data. Premium fields are absent rather than zeroed on plans that do not include them, so check for presence instead of comparing to 0.

Field	Type	Example	Description
`date`	string	`"2024-02-01"`	Date of the national debt data (YYYY-MM-DD format)
`totalDebt`	number	`34186489456789.12`	Total US national debt in dollars
`totalDebtFormatted`	string	`"$34.19 trillion"`	Total debt formatted as readable currency string
`publicDebt`	number	`26912345678901.23`	US debt held by the public in dollars
`publicDebtFormatted`	string	`"$26.91 trillion"`	Public debt formatted as readable currency string
`intragovernmentalDebt`Premium	number	`7274143777887.89`	Intragovernmental debt holdings in dollars
`intragovernmentalDebtFormatted`Premium	string	`"$7.27 trillion"`	Intragovernmental debt formatted as currency string
`perCapita`Premium	number	`102049`	Estimated national debt per person in dollars
`perCapitaFormatted`Premium	string	`"$102,049"`	Per capita debt formatted as currency string
`population`	number	`335000000`	US population used for per capita calculations
`publicDebtRatio`	number	`78.73`	Public debt as percentage of total debt
`perHousehold`Premium	number	`255122.24`	Estimated national debt per household in dollars
`perHouseholdFormatted`Premium	string	`"$255,122"`	Per household debt formatted as currency string

Errors

Read the HTTP status first, then error for the specific reason. The body names the parameter that has to change. Error handling covers the full status list and which of them are worth retrying.

Status	Meaning	What to do
`400`	Input was rejected	Read `error`; it names the parameter.
`401`	Key missing or invalid	Check the header name and the key value.
`403`	Key valid, but not permitted	A key restriction or IP allow-list; see key scoping.
`429`	Rate limited, or out of credits	Read `error` to tell them apart; see rate limits.

Use cases

Financial Dashboards: Display real-time national debt figures on financial dashboards and economic monitoring tools
Economic Research: Analyze historical debt trends for economic research and policy analysis
Educational Tools: Build educational applications showing government debt and per-capita calculations
News Applications: Provide up-to-date debt figures for news and media applications

Other ways to use National Debt

Set up National Debt on APIVerve, or reach the same source a different way. Your APIVerve account and credits work on all of them — one key, one balance.

Give it to an AI agentConnect over MCP and your agent calls it as a native tool — Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT.VerveKit →Reference →

Use it in Google Sheets or ExcelA =VERVE() formula fills a column — no script, no export, recalculates in place.VerveSheets →Reference →

Ground an agent on itA cited, machine-checkable fact your model can't produce on its own.VerveContext →Reference →

National Debt