The U.S. Federal Deficit, Trailing 12 Months
The federal government runs a deficit when it spends more than it collects. This chart adds up the latest 12 months of that gap and updates the total each month. Including a full annual tax and payment cycle smooths the recurring seasonal swings. Values above zero are deficits; values below zero are surpluses.
Federal budget deficit over the trailing 12 months since 1995, in billions of current U.S. dollars. Updated monthly. Positive values are deficits; negative values are surpluses.
Each point covers the labeled month and the preceding 11 months. For example, July 2026 covers August 2025 through July 2026. The chart starts in January 1995; its first point includes the preceding 11 months of data.
This is a rolling annual total, not an official seasonally adjusted monthly estimate. It smooths recurring tax and payment cycles but can lag turning points. Exceptional payments and shifts in tax deadlines can still move the line. CBO explains the effects of April tax collections and payment timing.
The annual history, back to 1980
The annual series reaches further back and shows the budget balance over each completed fiscal year. The rolling chart above moves the 12-month window forward every month; this chart always measures the government's fiscal year.
Annual federal budget deficit since fiscal year 1980, in billions of current U.S. dollars. Positive values are deficits; negative values are surpluses. Completed fiscal years only.
The deficit relative to the economy
A dollar in 1980 and a dollar today buy very different amounts, and the economy has grown substantially. The annual dollar chart shows the size of each year's shortfall in the money of that time. Dividing by GDP puts the shortfall in relation to the economy that supports it. This comparison remains annual, using fiscal-year GDP.
Annual federal budget deficit as a percentage of fiscal-year GDP, since 1930. Positive values are deficits; negative values are surpluses.
The last annual surplus in this series was in fiscal year 2001. Fiscal year 2020 brought a deficit of about $3.10 trillion, the largest in the annual dollar series. The GDP chart gives those dollar amounts context: the wartime deficits of the 1940s were much smaller in dollars but larger relative to the economy.
Reading the charts
A deficit is a flow; debt is an outstanding balance. These charts show the budget shortfall over a year, not the total federal debt. A smaller deficit still means spending exceeds receipts.
The annual charts use fiscal years. Since 1977, the federal fiscal year has ended on September 30; earlier years in the annual series ended on June 30. The separate July–September 1976 transition quarter is omitted. The rolling chart uses 12 completed calendar months and can update before the current fiscal year ends. No forecasts or partial-month totals are included.
The dollar figures are nominal. They are not adjusted for inflation. The GDP chart uses fiscal-year GDP to make comparisons across differently sized economies.
Sources and calculation
The rolling total is calculated from the Treasury's Monthly Treasury Statement through FRED. We reverse FRED's deficit-negative sign, convert millions to billions by dividing by 1,000, and sum 12 consecutive monthly balances. A window needs all 12 reported months; no gaps are filled or partial windows shown.
Annual data comes from the Office of Management and Budget through FRED: Federal Surplus or Deficit and Federal Surplus or Deficit as Percent of GDP. Both annual charts also reverse FRED's sign, and the annual dollar chart uses the same conversion to billions.
The annual OMB figures can incorporate revisions that differ from the monthly Treasury releases, so adding up the monthly readings may not exactly reproduce the annual chart.
These are unified federal budget figures. They differ from the quarterly national-accounts measure used in the discussion of corporate profits and the deficit. OMB's historical-table notes explain the budget coverage and fiscal-year conventions.