Each year, CBO releases a set of four budget infographics that provide a detailed look at the past fiscal year as well as broader trends over the past few decades. Today, CBO published the latest infographics showing the federal budget results in fiscal year 2021.
These infographics help people understand how much the government spends and takes in each year and what programs and revenue sources account for the largest portions of those budgetary flows.
Spending in fiscal year 2021 remained elevated, in part because of the legislative response to the coronavirus pandemic. The first two infographics (which feature the budgetary overview and mandatory spending) show significant outlays for programs affected by that response, including the Paycheck Protection Program, unemployment compensation, outlays for refundable tax credits, and the Coronavirus Relief Fund. A closer look at revenues shows an increase from 2020, led by higher collections of individual income taxes and corporate income taxes.
You can view the infographics for 2021 below, including an interactive version of the one about the overall federal budget:
- The Federal Budget in Fiscal Year 2021
- Mandatory Spending in Fiscal Year 2021
- Discretionary Spending in Fiscal Year 2021
- Revenues in Fiscal Year 2021
Infographics for other years are also available.
Dan Ready and Olivia Yang are analysts in CBO’s Budget Analysis Division.