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What is Federal Spending?

In FY 2025, federal government spending was $7.01 trillion according to the Office of Management and Budget.

Budgeted spending for FY 2026 is $7.54 trillion.

Federal Spending Analysis

This page shows the current trends in US federal spending. Also see charts on US spending history. See also: Social Security Spending and Medicare Spending

Recent US Federal Spending

Chart S.01f: Recent Federal Spending

Federal Spending was increasing modestly, year on year, in the mid 2000s. But it jumped by $700 billion a year in the Great Recession to bail out the banks and provide “stimulus.” Since the recession federal spending held steady at about $3.6 trillion per year for a few years, before resuming growth in 2015.

Federal spending jumped to $6.55 trillion in the COVID year of 2020, and then to $6.82 in 2021 before declining. Federal spending for FY2025 was $7.01 trillion.

Chart S.02f: Recent Federal Spend as Pct GDP

Viewed from a GDP perspective, federal spending was steady at about 19 percent GDP in the mid 2000s and then jumped, in the Great Recession to almost 25 percent GDP. But in the subsequent economic recovery federal spending has steadily declined as a percent of GDP down to about 20 percent in 2014.

Federal spending jumped to 30.3 percent of GDP in the COVID year of 2020, and then started to decline in subsequent years. Federal spending for FY2025 was 22.8 percent GDP.

Numbers — Charts:

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US Federal Spending Since 1900

Chart S.03f: Federal Spending since 1900

Federal spending began the 20th century at less than 3 percent of GDP per year. It jerked above 24 percent as a result of World War I and then declined in the 1920s to 3 to 4 percent by 1929. Federal spending started to increase after the Crash of 1929, and rose above 10 percent in the depths of the Great Depression.

Federal spending exploded during World War II to nearly 48 percent of GDP, and then declined to about 15 percent in the late 1940s.

In the Korean War of the early 1950s federal spending increased to over 20 percent of GDP, and then declined to about 17 to 18 percent by the end of the 1950s. In the 1960s federal spending began a slow increase to about 22 percent of GDP in the early 1980s, and then declined modestly to about 18 percent by 2000.

In the 2000s federal spending began a steady increase crossing 20 percent of GDP just before exploding to 24 to 25 percent in the Crash of 2008. In the 2010s federal spending settled back to 20 percent of GDP, and then exploded above 30 percent of GDP in the COVID year of 2020.

US Federal Spending since the Founding

Chart S.04f: Federal Spending since the Founding

Federal spending in the first half of the 19th century stayed typically below 2 percent of GDP except in wartime. In the Civil War, federal spending exploded to 13 percent of GDP. After the Civil War spending gradually declined. It dropped below 4 percent of GDP in 1872 and below 3 percent of GDP in 1880. Thereafter, federal spending hovered between 2.5 percent and 3 percent of GDP until World War I. Federal spending peaked at 24 percent of GDP and declined below 4 percent in the 1920s. Federal spending reached 10 percent of GDP in the 1930s before rocketing to 48 percent of GDP at the end of World War II. From the end of World War II to the mid 1980s federal spending gradually increased from 15 percent to 22 percent and then declined to below 20 percent of GDP by 2000. Since 2000 federal spending has slowly increased as a percent of GDP, with a blip to 24 percent GDP in the aftermath of the Crash of 2008 and a spike to 30 percent of GDP in the COVID year of 2020.

CBO Forecast for Federal Spending

Chart S.05f: CBO Forecast for Federal Spending

According to the latest forecast from the Congressional Budget Office, federal spending will grow from a little over 21 percent of GDP in 2019 to over 28 percent of GDP by 2049.

Social Security spending is forecast to increase from 4.9 percent GDP in 2019 to 6.2 percent GDP in 2049; Healthcare spending (Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP) is forecast to increase from 5.3 percent GDP in 2019 to 9.3 percent GDP in 2049; All other spending on programs, including Defense, is forecast to decrease from 8.8 percent GDP in 2019 to 7.1 percent GDP in 2049;

Spending on net interest on the federal debt is forecast to increase from 1.8 percent GDP in 2019 to 5.7 percent GDP in 2049.

Top Spending Requests:

Find DEFICIT stats and history.

Get WELFARE stats and history.

US BUDGET overview and pie chart.

Find NATIONAL DEBT today.

DOWNLOAD spending data or debt data.

See FEDERAL BUDGET breakdown and estimated vs. actual.

MILITARY SPENDING details, budget and history.

ENTITLEMENT SPENDING history.

See BAR CHARTS of spending, debt.

Check STATE spending: CA NY TX FL and compare.

See SPENDING ANALYSIS briefing.

See SPENDING HISTORY briefing.

Take a COURSE at Spending 101.

Make your own CUSTOM CHART.

Spending Data Sources

Spending data is from official government sources.

Federal spending data since 1962 comes from the president’s budget.
All other spending data comes from the US Census Bureau.

Gross Domestic Product data comes from US Bureau of Economic Analysis and measuringworth.com.

Detailed table of spending data sources here.
Medicare breakdown here; Medicaid breakdown here.

Federal spending data begins in 1792.

State and local spending data begins in 1820.

State and local spending data for individual states begins in 1957.

Spending 101 Courses

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usgovernmentspending.com.

Where you go to get facts about government.

Prepared by Christopher Chantrill.
email: chrischantrill@gmail.com

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