In 2023, the U.S. government had a budget deficit of 1.69 trillion U.S. dollars. This is compared to 2000, when the government had a budget surplus of 0.24 trillion U.S. dollars.

U.S. Government budget

The government budget is a financial statement that demonstrates the government’s suggested revenues and spending for the financial year. Budget surpluses occur when income exceeds expenditures. Budget deficits occur when spending exceeds income. The budget balance of the U.S. government has fluctuated since 2016, and is expected to decrease slightly by 2026.

Military spending

Defense outlays in the United States amounted to 714 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. It is expected to continue to increase over the next several years. The United States currently has the largest defense budget in the world, and is the largest employer in the world. The military budget funds the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. The amount of funding that goes towards the Department of Defense is heavily criticized by Democrats in the United States, because they believe that the funding should be more evenly distributed towards other social welfare programs such as public health insurance and education.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Surplus or Deficit - from 1901 to 2024 about budget, federal, and USA.

The United States federal government budget has allotted around 75 billion dollars toward its 2025 civilian federal agency information technology budget. As leadership and government priorities change, the IT budgets allocated to different departments tend to follow suit. The Department of Energy's IT budget increased significantly by 37 percent compared to the previous year, with 5.5 billion U.S. dollars allocated in FY 2025. Similarly, the IT budget of the Department of Homeland security also increased by 23 percent compared to the previous year, to around 11 billion U.S. dollars for FY 2025. Meanwhile, the Office of Personnel Management saw its IT budget shrink the most among the civilian federal government agencies, decreasing by a staggering 64 percent compared to FY 2024. Since the 2022 federal budget, figures do not include the portion of the budget allocated to the Department of Defense or other classified IT spending. U.S. government budget In the United States, huge shares of government expenditures go towards the Department of Health and Human Services as well as the Social Security Administration. Due in part to the country’s continually increasing budget, the government has run at an annual deficit since 2002, with its 2024 deficit estimated to over be around 1.9 trillion dollars. Cybersecurity budget One of the main facets of the U.S. government IT budget is spending related to cybersecurity. Over 12 billion U.S. dollars have been allocated towards cybersecurity in 2024. The Departments of Homeland Security and Justice have unsurprisingly had the highest cybersecurity budgets across all departments, given the sensitive nature of their work.

By 2034, the gross federal debt of the United States is projected to be about 54.39 trillion U.S. dollars. This would be an increase of around 21 trillion U.S. dollars from 2023, when the federal debt was around 33 trillion U.S. dollars.

The federal debt of the U.S.

The federal debt, also called the national debt or public debt, is the amount of debt held by the United States government. This debt may be to other countries, or to different departments within the government itself. The public debt of the United States has increased significantly over the past 30 years, as it was around 3.2 trillion U.S. dollars in 1990 and surpassed 30 trillion dollars for the first time in 2022. When broken down per capita, the national debt amounted to about 80,885 U.S. dollars of debt per person in the United States in 2021.

The problem of the federal debt

Over the past decade, the federal debt limit in the United States has increased significantly. The U.S. debt ceiling can only be changed by an act of Congress which is then signed by the president. The raising of the ceiling has become a recurring political issue in recent years, especially during times when the Presidency and chambers of Congress are controlled by different parties.

The debt ceiling is a tool that allows the Treasury to issue bonds without congressional approval, allowing for efficiency in the way that the government pays for programs and services. It is thought to be further valuable in that it keeps federal finances in check. However, when the two parties are unable to come to an agreement on raising the debt ceiling, the government comes to a shutdown because they can no longer fund themselves. The Republican Party in particular often positions itself against raising the federal debt ceiling, characterizing themselves as the party of fiscal conservativism. However, analyses have shown that both parties have contributed to the country's debt in almost equal measures.

The United States recorded a Government Debt to GDP of 124.30 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2024. This dataset provides - United States Government Debt To GDP - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

A survey from February 2025 found that around 67 percent of U.S. adults thought it was very or somewhat likely that the Trump administration’s plans to significantly downsize the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) would result in more illness and death in low-income countries. However, almost half of respondents also thought it was very or somewhat likely that downsizing USAID would significantly reduce the U.S. budget deficit. In January 2025, President Trump ordered a pause on funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and a 90-day review of all U.S. foreign assistance. By the end of March, the review had been completed, 83 percent of USAID programs were terminated, and it was announced that certain USAID functions would be overtaken by the Department of State while all others would be discontinued. Trump has said that the United States spends too much on foreign aid and accused USAID of being corrupt and a waste of money. However, foreign aid accounts for just one percent of the federal budget. Furthermore, it is predicted that millions of people will die due to the dissolution of USAID, as vulnerable people around the world will no longer be able to access prevention and treatment for diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Summarizes the U.S. government's total outstanding debt at the end of each fiscal year from 1789 to the current year.

The United States recorded a trade deficit of 61.62 USD Billion in April of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Balance of Trade - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.