Corporate Debt - Historical Chart
Nonfinancial Corporate Business; Debt Securities and Loans; Liability, Level. Gray shaded areas indicate U.S. recessions.
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), Series BCNSDODNS. Shaded areas = NBER recession dates. Updated 2026-03-10.
What the Q3 2025 Data Shows
At $14,132.49T, the corporate debt in Q3 2025 is above the 10-year average of $11,629.88T by 2502609.80. The trend is upward, with increases in 3 of the last 4 quarters.
Nonfinancial corporate business debt (FRED series BCNSDODNS) measures the total dollar amount of debt instruments held by incorporated, non-bank businesses in the United States. This includes corporate bonds, syndicated loans, commercial paper, private placements, and other credit market borrowing.
The series has grown substantially over the past two decades, driven by historically low borrowing costs, the expansion of the corporate bond market, and leveraged buyout activity. Much of the post-2010 growth came from investment-grade companies issuing bonds to fund share buybacks and M&A -- financial engineering that increased leverage without necessarily expanding productive capacity.
Data is quarterly from the Z.1 Financial Accounts, reported in billions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted.
What This Metric Measures
This page tracks the total dollar amount of debt securities and loans outstanding at U.S. nonfinancial corporate businesses, including corporate bonds, bank loans, commercial paper, and other credit instruments from the Z.1 Financial Accounts. The data comes from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED database, series BCNSDODNS, updated quarterly.
Historical Context
The all-time peak was $14,132.49T in Q3 2025. The all-time trough was $44.65T in Q4 1945. During COVID-19 in 2020, the reading hit $12,115.67T (Q2 2020). Year-over-year, the metric has moved 2.1%.
Why It Matters
Corporate debt levels determine how sensitive the economy is to interest rate changes. Each trillion dollars of corporate debt generates roughly $10 billion in additional annual interest expense for every 1 percentage point increase in rates. When total corporate debt exceeds $12 trillion, the math gets punishing quickly. For business owners, this creates a systemic backdrop where even healthy companies face higher costs because the bond market reprices risk across the board.
What This Means for Business Owners
Understanding where this metric stands relative to historical norms helps business owners make better borrowing decisions. Metrics far from their 10-year average often signal turning points that affect the cost and availability of credit.
Nonfinancial Corporate Business Debt - Frequently Asked Questions
Nonfinancial corporate debt is approximately $14132492.00 trillion as of Q3 2025, per FRED series BCNSDODNS. This covers all bonds, loans, and commercial paper issued by incorporated non-bank businesses.
Three factors: low interest rates that made borrowing cheap, the use of debt to fund share buybacks and M&A (financial engineering), and the expansion of the corporate bond market that made it easier for companies to issue debt without going through a bank.
Roughly $2-3 trillion of corporate bonds and loans mature or reprice annually. Companies that issued at low rates in 2020-2021 face significant repricing risk when those maturities come due at higher prevailing rates.
The blended average coupon on outstanding investment-grade corporate bonds is roughly 3.5-4%, reflecting the mix of old low-rate issuance and new higher-rate bonds. New issuance is happening at 5-6%+ depending on credit quality, so the blended average is rising as old bonds mature.
Only incorporated businesses. Sole proprietorships, partnerships, and LLCs taxed as pass-throughs are not included in the 'corporate' series. Small business lending through SBA and bank C&I loans shows up in separate Federal Reserve series.
FRED series BCNSDODNS from the Federal Reserve's Financial Accounts of the United States (Z.1 release). Quarterly, in billions of dollars. Covers all nonfinancial corporate businesses.