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 Oct 1980 to May 2025 about budget, federal, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Surplus or Deficit [-] as Percent of Gross Domestic Product from 1929 to 2024 about budget, federal, GDP, and USA.

In September 2023, the national debt of the United States had risen up to 33.17 trillion U.S. dollars. The national debt per capita had risen to 85,552 U.S. dollars in 2021. As represented by the statistic above, the public debt of the United States has been continuously rising.

U.S. public debt Public debt, also known as national and governmental debt, is the debt owed by a nations’ central government. In the case of the U.S., national debt is owed by the federal government to Treasury security holders. Generally speaking, government debt increases with government spending, and can be decreased through taxes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government increased spending significantly to finance virus infrastructure, aid, and various forms of economic relief.

International public debt

Venezuela leads the global ranking of the 20 countries with the highest public debt in 2021. In relation to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Venezuela's public debt amounted to around 306.95 percent of GDP. Eritrea was ranked fifth, with an estimated debt of 170 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.

The national debt of the United Kingdom is forecasted to grow from 87 percent in 2022 to 70 percent in 2027, in relation to the Gross Domestic Product. These figures include England, Wales, Scotland as well as Northern Ireland.

Greece had the highest national debt among EU countries as of the 4th quarter of 2020 in relation to the Gross Domestic Product. Germany ranked 13th in the EU, with its national debt amounting to 69 percent of GDP in the same time period.

Tuvalu was one of the 20 countries with the lowest national debt in 2021 in relation to the GDP, while Macao had an estimated level of national debt of zero percent, the lowest of any country. The data refer to the debts of the entire state, including the central government, the provinces, municipalities, local authorities and social insurance.

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.

The U.S. budget deficit amounted to roughly 1.7 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023, which was around 6.3 percent of the U.S. GDP. The forecast predicts a state deficit of about 2.58 trillion U.S. dollars in 2034, which would be about 6.2 percent of the U.S. GDP. The GDP of the United States since 1990 can be accessed here.

Graph and download economic data for Federal government budget surplus or deficit (-) from 1952 to 2023 about budget, federal, government, GDP, and USA.

The United States recorded a government budget deficit of 316004 USD Million in May of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Government Budget Value - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The forecasted budget balance for the U.S. government is predicted to fluctuate between the fiscal years of 2024 and 2034. This forecast predicts a deficit of 2.58 trillion U.S. dollars by fiscal year 2034. A fiscal year covers the period from October 1 to September 30 of a given year.

In the first quarter of 2024, the U.S. government's budget balance amounted to a net borrowing of about 2.09 trillion U.S. dollars. This is compared to the first quarter of 2009, when the U.S. government borrowed about 1.79 trillion U.S. dollars.

This table shows the net transactions for the current month, and the current and prior fiscal year-to-date, as well as account balances for the beginning of the current fiscal year and current accounting month and the close of the current accounting month. This activity is related to the means used to finance the budget deficit or to dispose of a budget surplus. An asset account would represent an asset to the United States Government, for example United States Treasury Operating Cash. A liability account would represent a liability to the United States Government, for example Borrowing from the Public. This table includes total and subtotal rows that should be excluded when aggregating data. Some rows represent elements of the dataset's hierarchy, but are not assigned values. The classification_id for each of these elements can be used as the parent_id for underlying data elements to calculate their implied values. Subtotal rows are available to access this same information.

In 2023, the gross federal debt in the United States amounted to around ****** U.S. dollars per capita. This is a moderate increase from the previous year, when the per capita national debt amounted to about ****** U.S. dollars. The total debt accrued by the U.S. annually can be accessed here. Federal debt of the United States The level of national debt held by the United States government has risen sharply in the years following the Great Recession. Federal debt is the amount of debt the federal government owes to creditors who hold assets in the form of debt securities. As with individuals and consumers, there is a common consensus among economists that holding debt is not necessarily problematic for government so long as the public debt is held at a sustainable level. Although there is no agreed upon ratio of debt to gross domestic product, the increasing debt held by the Federal Reserve has become a major part of the political discourse in the United States. Politics and the national debt In recent years, debate over the debt ceiling has been of concern to domestic politicians, the owners of federal debt, and global economy as a whole. The debt ceiling is a legislated maximum amount that national debt can reach intended to impose a degree of fiscal prudence on incumbent governments. However, as national debt has grown the debt ceiling has been reached, thus forcing legislative action by Congress. In both 2011 and 2013, new legislation was passed by Congress allowing the debt ceiling to be raised. The Budget Control Act of 2011 and the No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013 successively allowed the government to avoid defaulting on national debt and therefore avert a potential economic crisis.

Germany recorded a Government Budget deficit equal to 2.80 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2024. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Germany Government Budget - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

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.

This summary table shows the on-budget and off-budget receipts and outlays, the on-budget and off-budget surplus/deficit, and the means of financing the budget surplus/deficit. The table also shows the budgeted amounts estimated in the President's Budget for the current fiscal year and next fiscal year for each item on the table. This table includes total and subtotal rows that should be excluded when aggregating data. Some rows represent elements of the dataset's hierarchy, but are not assigned values. The classification_id for each of these elements can be used as the parent_id for underlying data elements to calculate their implied values. Subtotal rows are available to access this same information.

Japan recorded a Government Budget deficit equal to 6.40 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2022. This dataset provides - Japan Government Budget - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

In 2024, the budget balance in relation to the gross domestic product (GDP) in the United States stood at about -7.26 percent. Between 2001 and 2024, the figure dropped by approximately 6.72 percentage points, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory. From 2024 to 2030, the budget balance will rise by around 1.65 percentage points, showing an overall upward trend with periodic ups and downs.The indicator describes the general government net lending / borrowing, which is calculated as revenue minus total expenditure. The International Monetary Fund defines the general government expenditure as consisting of total expenses and the net acquisition of nonfinancial assets. The general government revenue consists of the revenue from taxes, social contributions, grants receivable, and other revenue.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Debt: Total Public Debt from Q1 1966 to Q1 2025 about public, debt, federal, government, and USA.

In 2022, the total receipts of the United States government added up to approximately 4.9 trillion U.S. dollars. By 2028, the receipts of the U.S. government are expected to increase to 6.4 trillion U.S. dollars.

Russia Federal Government Surplus or Deficit: Year to Date data was reported at -3,472.002 RUB bn in Dec 2024. This records a decrease from the previous number of 578.458 RUB bn for Sep 2024. Russia Federal Government Surplus or Deficit: Year to Date data is updated quarterly, averaging 14.450 RUB bn from Mar 1993 (Median) to Dec 2024, with 128 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3,086.472 RUB bn in Sep 2019 and a record low of -4,102.465 RUB bn in Dec 2020. Russia Federal Government Surplus or Deficit: Year to Date data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Treasury. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Russian Federation – Table RU.FB007: Federal Government Revenue and Expenditure: ytd: Quarterly.