Budget

In fiscal year 2020, the federal budget deficit totaled $3.1 trillion—more than triple the shortfall recorded in fiscal year 2019. The deficit in 2020 was equal to 14.9 percent of GDP, up from 4.6 percent in 2019 and 3.8 percent in 2018.

The federal government ran a budget deficit of $3.1 trillion in fiscal year 2020, CBO estimates, more than triple the shortfall recorded in 2019. The Treasury Department will report the actual deficit for the year later this month.

CBO presents its projections of what federal deficits, debt, spending, and revenues would be for the next 30 years if current laws governing taxes and spending generally did not change.

The federal budget deficit in August 2020 was $198 billion, CBO estimates, $3 billion less than the deficit in August of last year. However, that comparison is distorted by shifts in the timing of certain payments. The cumulative federal budget deficit for the first 11 months of fiscal year 2020 was $3.0 trillion, CBO estimates, $1.9 trillion more than the deficit recorded for the same period last year.

CBO projects a federal budget deficit of $3.3 trillion in 2020, more than triple the shortfall recorded in 2019, mostly because of the economic disruption caused by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and the enactment of legislation in response.

The federal budget deficit was $2.8 trillion in the first ten months of fiscal year 2020, CBO estimates, $1.9 trillion more than the deficit recorded during the same period last year.

View CBO’s budget infographics to see how much the federal government spent and took in during fiscal year 2019, as well as broader trends in the budget over the past few decades.

On February 10, the Administration transmitted its annual set of budgetary proposals to the Congress. CBO estimates that in the coming decade deficits under those proposals would be smaller and debt held by the public would be lower than amounts in CBO’s baseline projections—but larger than the Administration projected. CBO’s estimates do not account for changes to the nation’s economic or fiscal outlook arising from the recent public health emergency.

From the end of 2008 to 2019, the amount of federal debt held by the public nearly tripled. This report describes federal debt, various ways to measure it, CBO’s projections for the coming decade, and the consequences of its growth.

In CBO’s projections of the outlook under current law, deficits remain large by historical standards, federal debt grows to 98 percent of GDP by 2030, and the economy expands at an average annual rate of 1.7 percent from 2021 to 2030.

In fiscal year 2019, the budget deficit totaled $984 billion—$205 billion more than the shortfall recorded in 2018. Measured as a share of GDP, the deficit increased to 4.6 percent in 2019, up from 3.8 percent in 2018 and 3.5 percent in 2017.

CBO periodically issues a volume of options—this year’s installment presents 121—that would decrease federal spending or increase federal revenues. CBO’s website allows users to filter options by topic, date, and other categories.