How big is the federal deficit each year?
The government spent $1.78 trillion more than it collected in fiscal 2025. The gap peaked at $3.13 trillion in 2020, during the pandemic, and has stayed above $1.3 trillion since. The deficit is spending minus revenue, not adjusted for inflation; Treasury's API has these statements from fiscal 2015.
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Source and date
- Data as of
- Published
The data
| Fiscal year | Deficit in US dollars |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 438,898,858,122 |
| 2016 | 587,411,769,637 |
| 2017 | 665,711,513,062 |
| 2018 | 778,996,251,866 |
| 2019 | 984,388,026,332 |
| 2020 | 3,131,917,248,889 |
| 2021 | 2,772,178,788,290 |
| 2022 | 1,375,388,552,955 |
| 2023 | 1,695,148,300,530 |
| 2024 | 1,832,815,989,074 |
| 2025 | 1,775,357,280,734 |