Short answer: The latest completed U.S. federal fiscal year was FY2025, which ended September 30, 2025. The federal government recorded a deficit of approximately $1.775 trillion. FY2026 was still in progress on August 10, 2026, so its annual deficit is not yet known; the Congressional Budget Office projected a deficit of about $1.9 trillion.
This article uses fiscal years, not calendar years. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30. The annual table below presents the total federal budget balance, with deficits shown as positive dollar magnitudes and surpluses explicitly labeled.
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U.S. budget deficit by year: the latest figures
The federal budget deficit is the amount by which federal outlays exceed federal receipts during a fiscal year. If receipts exceed outlays, the government records a surplus.
Current status as of August 10, 2026: FY2025 is the latest completed fiscal year. FY2026 runs from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026, and must not be presented as a completed annual deficit.
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| Fiscal year | Receipts | Outlays | Deficit or surplus | Balance as % of GDP | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $5.235 trillion | $7.010 trillion | $1.775 trillion deficit | About 5.8%–5.9% | Actual |
| FY2026 | Not final | Not final | $1.9 trillion projected deficit | 5.8% projected | CBO estimate |
The FY2025 dollar figure is $1,775.4 billion in the Treasury/GAO financial-report figure and $1,775.370 billion in CBO’s historical data file. That difference is rounding-level and reflects the fact that official series can have different revisions and accounting conventions. CBO’s February 2026 baseline projection for FY2026 is a forecast, not an actual result. See the CBO Budget and Economic Outlook for the projection.
Annual federal budget balance, FY1962–FY2025
The table below uses the CBO historical budget series, which provides a consistent annual balance series from FY1962 through the latest completed year. Amounts are nominal dollars in billions and rounded to the nearest $0.1 billion. The source file uses the opposite sign convention: deficits appear as negative numbers and surpluses as positive numbers. The table below converts those values into reader-friendly labels.
| Fiscal year | Deficit or surplus |
|---|---|
| 1962 | $7.1 billion deficit |
| 1963 | $4.8 billion deficit |
| 1964 | $5.9 billion deficit |
| 1965 | $1.4 billion deficit |
| 1966 | $3.7 billion deficit |
| 1967 | $8.6 billion deficit |
| 1968 | $25.2 billion deficit |
| 1969 | $3.2 billion surplus |
| 1970 | $2.8 billion deficit |
| 1971 | $23.0 billion deficit |
| 1972 | $23.4 billion deficit |
| 1973 | $14.9 billion deficit |
| 1974 | $6.1 billion deficit |
| 1975 | $53.2 billion deficit |
| 1976 | $73.7 billion deficit |
| 1977 | $53.7 billion deficit |
| 1978 | $59.2 billion deficit |
| 1979 | $40.7 billion deficit |
| 1980 | $73.8 billion deficit |
| 1981 | $79.0 billion deficit |
| 1982 | $128.0 billion deficit |
| 1983 | $207.8 billion deficit |
| 1984 | $185.4 billion deficit |
| 1985 | $212.3 billion deficit |
| 1986 | $221.2 billion deficit |
| 1987 | $149.7 billion deficit |
| 1988 | $155.2 billion deficit |
| 1989 | $152.6 billion deficit |
| 1990 | $221.0 billion deficit |
| 1991 | $269.2 billion deficit |
| 1992 | $290.3 billion deficit |
| 1993 | $255.1 billion deficit |
| 1994 | $203.2 billion deficit |
| 1995 | $164.0 billion deficit |
| 1996 | $107.4 billion deficit |
| 1997 | $21.9 billion deficit |
| 1998 | $69.3 billion surplus |
| 1999 | $125.6 billion surplus |
| 2000 | $236.2 billion surplus |
| 2001 | $128.2 billion surplus |
| 2002 | $157.8 billion deficit |
| 2003 | $377.6 billion deficit |
| 2004 | $412.7 billion deficit |
| 2005 | $318.3 billion deficit |
| 2006 | $248.2 billion deficit |
| 2007 | $160.7 billion deficit |
| 2008 | $458.6 billion deficit |
| 2009 | $1,412.7 billion deficit |
| 2010 | $1,294.4 billion deficit |
| 2011 | $1,299.6 billion deficit |
| 2012 | $1,076.6 billion deficit |
| 2013 | $679.8 billion deficit |
| 2014 | $484.8 billion deficit |
| 2015 | $442.0 billion deficit |
| 2016 | $584.7 billion deficit |
| 2017 | $665.5 billion deficit |
| 2018 | $779.1 billion deficit |
| 2019 | $983.6 billion deficit |
| 2020 | $3,132.5 billion deficit |
| 2021 | $2,775.4 billion deficit |
| 2022 | $1,375.9 billion deficit |
| 2023 | $1,693.7 billion deficit |
| 2024 | $1,831.0 billion deficit |
| 2025 | $1,775.4 billion deficit |
For the complete long-run series, including receipts, outlays, total balance, and on-budget and off-budget components from 1789 through 2025, use OMB Historical Table 1.1 from the FY2027 Budget. The current edition was issued April 3, 2026. The early historical years require more care because fiscal-year conventions and the availability of federal accounts changed over time.
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Fiscal year versus calendar year
Federal budget data are reported by fiscal year. The federal fiscal year begins October 1 and ends September 30 of the following calendar year:
- FY2025: October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025.
- FY2026: October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026.
Therefore, FY2025 is not the same thing as January through December 2025. A fiscal-year deficit can reflect economic conditions, tax receipts, spending laws, and events from two calendar years. It is also misleading to assign an entire fiscal-year result automatically to the president who held office for most of that year. Congress legislates taxes and appropriations, mandatory programs operate under previously enacted law, and economic conditions affect receipts and automatic stabilizers.
What the FY2025 deficit means
FY2025’s $1.775 trillion deficit was approximately $41 billion, or 2%, below FY2024’s $1.831 trillion deficit in CBO’s fiscal-year comparison. The change reflected both sides of the budget: receipts rose by about $317 billion, while outlays rose by about $275 billion. The result was still historically large in nominal dollars.
That year-over-year comparison needs an important qualification. October 1, 2023, fell on a weekend, so approximately $72 billion of payments that would ordinarily have appeared in FY2024 were recorded in FY2023. After adjusting for that timing shift, CBO said the FY2025 deficit was approximately 6% smaller than the comparable FY2024 result, rather than only 2% smaller. Read CBO’s FY2025 Monthly Budget Review for the accounting and timing discussion.
Net interest also became a major part of the result. CBO reported that net interest exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in its FY2025 discussion. Net interest is the government’s interest cost on its debt, net of certain interest receipts; it is an outlay even though it is not a discretionary program. At the end of FY2025, debt held by the public was approximately 99.8% of GDP.
The percentage depends slightly on the data release. CBO’s November 2025 review reported the FY2025 deficit at 5.9% of GDP, while a later CBO release and the February 2026 historical file put it at about 5.8% or 5.847%. GDP estimates and budget data are revised, so the percentage should be identified by source and vintage rather than treated as an unchanging fact.
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How large are the biggest deficits?
Largest in nominal dollars
FY2020 had the largest nominal federal deficit in the CBO historical series: approximately $3.132 trillion. FY2021 was second at approximately $2.775 trillion. These deficits reflected the extraordinary fiscal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including emergency support and other temporary measures.
Nominal-dollar rankings answer the question, How many dollars did the government run short? They do not adjust for inflation or the size of the economy. A deficit measured in 1943 dollars cannot be compared directly with a deficit measured in 2020 or 2025 dollars without a conversion.
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Largest relative to GDP
For the modern CBO series beginning in FY1962, FY2020 was the largest deficit relative to GDP at approximately 14.7%. FY2025 was much smaller by that measure, at roughly 5.8% to 5.9% of GDP.
Across the longer historical record, the largest deficits as a share of GDP occurred during the World War II period, when wartime mobilization produced deficits far larger relative to the economy than the COVID-era deficit. For the exact year-by-year percentage ranking from FY1930 onward, use OMB Historical Table 1.2. This distinction matters: the largest deficit in nominal dollars is not automatically the largest deficit relative to GDP.
Largest after inflation
An inflation-adjusted ranking uses constant dollars and can produce a different result from both nominal dollars and GDP percentages. OMB Historical Table 1.3 provides current-dollar, constant-dollar, and GDP-percentage measures for FY1940 through FY2025.
The last federal surpluses
The last completed federal surplus occurred in FY2001, when the surplus was approximately $128.2 billion. The preceding surpluses were:
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|---|---|
| FY1998 | $69.3 billion |
| FY1999 | $125.6 billion |
| FY2000 | $236.2 billion |
| FY2001 | $128.2 billion |
The government then recorded a deficit in every completed fiscal year from FY2002 through FY2025—24 consecutive completed fiscal years as of August 10, 2026. Saying the government has run a deficit “since 2001” is ambiguous and can incorrectly include FY2001, which was a surplus year. The precise statement is: the last surplus was FY2001, followed by deficits in every completed fiscal year since FY2002.
Why the federal deficit changes
A deficit is the combined result of receipts and outlays. A useful starting equation is:
Deficit = Federal outlays − Federal receipts
When outlays are greater than receipts, the result is a deficit. When receipts are greater, it is a surplus. The main categories are:
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Receipts
- Individual income taxes, generally the largest federal tax source.
- Payroll taxes, which help finance Social Security and Medicare.
- Corporate income taxes.
- Customs duties and excise taxes.
- Other receipts, including various fees, earnings, and transfers.
Receipts rise and fall with employment, wages, profits, capital gains, economic growth, tax rates, deductions, credits, and other tax-policy choices. During recessions, receipts often weaken while some benefit payments rise automatically.
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- Mandatory programs: spending governed largely by eligibility rules and benefit formulas, including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
- Discretionary spending: annual appropriations for defense and nondefense programs.
- Net interest: interest costs associated with federal debt.
- Emergency and temporary measures: spending enacted for wars, recessions, disasters, pandemics, financial rescues, or other special circumstances.
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense, nondefense discretionary programs, emergency laws, tax changes, economic conditions, and interest rates can all matter. But no single line item explains every annual deficit. The proper analysis compares total receipts with total outlays and then examines which categories changed.
The CBO historical budget files provide revenue and spending categories, while OMB’s historical tables provide broader receipts, outlays, and on-budget and off-budget classifications. The total unified budget includes both on-budget and off-budget activity, including Social Security-related activity. Do not substitute an on-budget figure for the total deficit without labeling it.
Deficit versus national debt
The deficit and the national debt are related but different:
- Deficit: a one-year flow showing how much outlays exceed receipts during a particular fiscal year.
- Debt: a stock showing the accumulated amount the government owes at a point in time, including borrowing associated with past deficits and other financing activity.
A deficit generally adds to the debt, but the annual deficit is not mechanically identical to the change in debt. Treasury cash balances, debt transactions, and other financing items can also change the amount of debt outstanding. Treasury explains the distinction between the national deficit and national debt.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchThe deficit is also not exactly the same as every measure of Treasury borrowing. Borrowing helps finance the deficit, but Treasury separately reports financing transactions and changes in operating cash. The Treasury Bulletin provides additional detail.
Historical perspective by period
Great Depression and the New Deal
The Great Depression damaged employment, income, business profits, and therefore federal receipts. At the same time, the federal government expanded relief and recovery activity. The combination produced larger deficits than in many preceding peacetime years. The New Deal period is best understood through both sides of the budget: weaker receipts and increased outlays.
World War II
World War II produced an exceptional expansion in federal outlays for mobilization and national defense. Wartime deficits were not only large in nominal terms; they were also among the largest in U.S. history relative to GDP. This is why a percentage-of-GDP series is essential for comparisons across eras.
Postwar surpluses and deficits
After the war, demobilization and changing economic conditions reduced the extraordinary wartime spending burden. The postwar record contains both surpluses and deficits, rather than a single uninterrupted trend. The full OMB series is useful here because it extends well before the modern CBO series.
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The 1970s and early 1980s
The annual table shows recurring deficits during the 1970s, followed by substantially larger nominal deficits in the early 1980s. Inflation, economic weakness, tax receipts, spending decisions, and the interest-rate environment all affected the totals. The FY1983 deficit was approximately $207.8 billion, and the FY1986 deficit was approximately $221.2 billion in the CBO series.
The 1990s and the FY1998–FY2001 surpluses
Deficits narrowed through the 1990s, reaching a small deficit in FY1997 before the government recorded surpluses from FY1998 through FY2001. Strong economic conditions helped increase receipts, while legislation and spending patterns also shaped the outcome. The four-year surplus period ended after FY2001.
The 2001 recession, September 11, and the early 2000s
The return to deficits after FY2001 reflected a combination of slower economic conditions, tax changes, increased security and defense spending following the September 11 attacks, and other policy choices. The deficit reached approximately $412.7 billion in FY2004 before narrowing for several years.
The financial crisis and FY2009–FY2012
The 2008 financial crisis and recession sharply reduced receipts and prompted emergency fiscal and financial measures. The deficit rose to approximately $1.413 trillion in FY2009 and remained above $1 trillion through FY2012. These were the largest nominal deficits before the COVID-era period.
FY2013–FY2019
Deficits declined substantially after FY2012, reaching approximately $442.0 billion in FY2015. They then increased again, reaching approximately $983.6 billion in FY2019. The changes reflected economic conditions, tax legislation, discretionary spending, mandatory programs, and rising interest costs.
COVID-era FY2020 and FY2021
Emergency pandemic spending and a severe economic disruption produced the two largest nominal deficits in the modern series: approximately $3.132 trillion in FY2020 and $2.775 trillion in FY2021. As the emergency response receded and receipts recovered, the deficit fell to approximately $1.376 trillion in FY2022.
FY2022 through FY2025
The deficit did not return to its pre-pandemic level. It rose from approximately $1.376 trillion in FY2022 to $1.694 trillion in FY2023 and $1.831 trillion in FY2024, before declining modestly to $1.775 trillion in FY2025. The post-pandemic period also brought higher interest costs, making net interest an increasingly important part of the total.
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Nominal dollars are not enough
A $1 trillion deficit means something different in a small economy than in a much larger economy. For a long-run comparison, examine at least three measures:
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- Nominal dollars: the current-dollar amount of the shortfall.
- Deficit as a percentage of GDP: the shortfall relative to the economy’s annual output.
- Constant dollars: an inflation-adjusted comparison using a specified base year.
OMB Historical Tables 1.2 and 1.3 provide the GDP and constant-dollar series. GDP estimates and historical budget figures can be revised, so percentages should be read as source-vintage estimates.
Timing shifts can distort year-to-year comparisons
Federal payments can move between fiscal years when a payment date falls on a weekend or holiday. CBO specifically noted the effect of October 1 falling on a weekend in the FY2024 and FY2025 comparison. A change in the reported annual deficit is not always a change in the underlying pace of spending.
Accounting changes can matter
Student-loan accounting and reestimates affected recent comparisons. A reported deficit change should not automatically be described as a pure change in cash spending without checking the relevant accounting treatment.
Outlays are not the same as obligations
Federal budget outlays measure payments made, while obligations represent legally binding commitments and can occur before payment. They are different concepts. Treasury’s federal spending explanation discusses this distinction.
FY2026: actual, year-to-date, estimate, or forecast?
FY2026 was not complete as of August 10, 2026. It ends September 30, 2026. The approximately $1.9 trillion figure is CBO’s February 11, 2026 baseline projection based on the economic and legislative information available at that time, including laws enacted through January 14, 2026.
When reading or updating this article, keep these labels separate:
- Actual: a completed fiscal year based on final Treasury data.
- Year-to-date: the partial result reported during an open fiscal year.
- Estimate: a budget agency’s projection or baseline.
- Forecast: an outside or model-based prediction.
A partial-year FY2026 Treasury result should not be combined with completed annual deficits as if it were a full-year total. Treasury’s Monthly Treasury Statement is the primary operational source for current receipts, outlays, and the deficit. Treasury describes the statement as a modified-cash-basis report built from agency, disbursing-office, and Federal Reserve reporting.
Methodology and source notes
- Budget concept: total unified federal budget balance, including on-budget and off-budget activity.
- Time basis: federal fiscal year, October 1 through September 30.
- Dollar basis: nominal dollars unless a section says otherwise.
- Table source: CBO’s FY1962–FY2025 historical budget series.
- Sign convention: deficits are shown as positive magnitudes with the word deficit; surpluses are labeled explicitly.
- FY2026: kept separate from actual historical results and shown only as a CBO projection.
- Long-run source: OMB Historical Table 1.1 covers FY1789–FY2025 and includes receipts, outlays, balance, and on-budget/off-budget detail.
Different official sources can report slightly different values. For example, Treasury/GAO reports the FY2025 deficit as $1,775.4 billion, while CBO’s historical file reports $1,775.370 billion. Rounding, revisions, accounting treatment, and the need to maintain consistency within a projection series can all contribute. The safest practice is not to silently splice numbers from different releases; identify the source and data vintage used for each table.
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Downloadable and authoritative data
- OMB Historical Table 1.1: full federal receipts, outlays, and surplus or deficit from FY1789 through FY2025.
- OMB Historical Tables 1.2 and 1.3: deficit-to-GDP, current-dollar, and constant-dollar comparisons.
- CBO historical budget CSV: annual FY1962–FY2025 data.
- CBO historical budget schema: variable definitions, units, and fiscal-year conventions.
- Treasury Monthly Treasury Statement: current monthly and fiscal-year updates.
- FY2025 Financial Report of the U.S. Government: Treasury/GAO financial-report context.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the U.S. budget deficit in the latest completed year?
The FY2025 federal budget deficit was approximately $1.775 trillion. FY2025 ended September 30, 2025. FY2026 was still in progress as of August 10, 2026, so its $1.9 trillion figure is a CBO projection rather than an actual annual result.
Does the federal budget deficit equal the national debt?
No. The deficit is a one-year flow: outlays minus receipts. The national debt is a stock accumulated over time. A deficit generally increases debt, but cash balances, debt transactions, and other financing items mean the annual deficit is not identical to the change in debt.
When did the federal government last run a surplus?
The last completed federal surplus was FY2001, at approximately $128.2 billion. The government recorded deficits in every completed fiscal year from FY2002 through FY2025.
Was FY2020 the largest deficit in U.S. history?
FY2020 was the largest in nominal dollars in the modern CBO historical series, at approximately $3.132 trillion. The answer changes when measured as a percentage of GDP or in inflation-adjusted dollars; World War II-era deficits were larger relative to the economy.
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Bottom line: The latest completed U.S. federal budget deficit was approximately $1.775 trillion in FY2025. It was smaller than FY2024’s deficit but still historically large. FY2001 was the last surplus year, followed by 24 consecutive completed deficit years through FY2025. For accurate comparisons, use fiscal-year data, distinguish deficits from debt, compare both dollars and GDP percentages, and keep the incomplete FY2026 projection separate from actual results.
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