Source: World Bank  

Release: World Development Indicators  

Units:  Percent of GDP, Not Seasonally Adjusted

Frequency:  Annual

Debt is the entire stock of direct government fixed-term contractual obligations to others outstanding on a particular date. It includes domestic and foreign liabilities such as currency and money deposits, securities other than shares, and loans. It is the gross amount of government liabilities reduced by the amount of equity and financial derivatives held by the government. Because debt is a stock rather than a flow, it is measured as of a given date, usually the last day of the fiscal year.

World Bank Source: International Monetary Fund, Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, and World Bank and OECD GDP estimates.

Source Indicator: GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS

Source: U.S. Office of Management and Budget  

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis  

Release: Debt to Gross Domestic Product Ratios

Units:  Percent of GDP, Seasonally Adjusted

Frequency:  Quarterly

Federal Debt: Total Public Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product (GFDEGDQ188S) was first constructed by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in October 2012. It is calculated using Federal Government Debt: Total Public Debt (GFDEBTN) and Gross Domestic Product, 1 Decimal (GDP):
GFDEGDQ188S = ((GFDEBTN/1000)/GDP)*100
GFDEBTN/1000 transforms GFDEBTN from millions of dollars to billions of dollars.