The federal budget typically records a surplus in April because final tax payments for the prior year and estimated payments for the current year are usually due on April 15. But this year, the government incurred a deficit of $737 billion in April, CBO estimates, compared with a surplus of $160 billion 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.
