The government has run a deficit in 52 of the 56 fiscal years since 1970

Source. OMB Historical Tables, FY2027 edition (April 2026), Table 1.1 and Table 10.1. Fiscal years 1901–2025; as a share of GDP from 1940.

Method and data

Method. Total receipts and outlays, on- and off-budget combined (OMB Table 1.1), over Table 10.1 GDP. 1901–1939 have no GDP series and are given in current dollars only; OMB prints 1913 and 1914 as a deficit of under $0.5 million, left blank here.

Fiscal year	Surplus or deficit (% of GDP)	Receipts (% of GDP)	Outlays (% of GDP)	Surplus or deficit ($m)
1901				63
1902				77
1903				45
1904				−43
1905				−23
1906				25
1907				87
1908				−57
1909				−89
1910				−18
1911				11
1912				3
1913
1914
1915				−63
1916				48
1917				−853
1918				−9,032
1919				−13,363
1920				291
1921				509
1922				736
1923				713
1924				963
1925				717
1926				865
1927				1,155
1928				939
1929				734
1930				738
1931				−462
1932				−2,735
1933				−2,602
1934				−3,586
1935				−2,803
1936				−4,304
1937				−2,193
1938				−89
1939				−2,846
1940	−2.97	6.67	9.64	−2,920
1941	−4.25	7.5	11.75	−4,941
1942	−13.88	9.91	23.79	−20,503
1943	−29.55	13	42.55	−54,554
1944	−22.24	20.46	42.71	−47,557
1945	−21	19.95	40.95	−47,553
1946	−6.99	17.24	24.22	−15,936
1947	1.68	16.12	14.44	4,018
1948	4.5	15.87	11.36	11,796
1949	0.21	14.25	14.05	580
1950	−1.12	14.15	15.27	−3,119
1951	1.87	15.78	13.92	6,102
1952	−0.43	18.53	18.95	−1,519
1953	−1.7	18.22	19.92	−6,493
1954	−0.3	18	18.3	−1,154
1955	−0.74	16.11	16.84	−2,993
1956	0.9	17.02	16.12	3,947
1957	0.74	17.26	16.53	3,412
1958	−0.58	16.82	17.4	−2,769
1959	−2.55	15.71	18.25	−12,849
1960	0.06	17.31	17.25	301
1961	−0.61	17.27	17.88	−3,335
1962	−1.22	17.02	18.24	−7,146
1963	−0.77	17.24	18.01	−4,756
1964	−0.89	17.02	17.91	−5,915
1965	−0.2	16.47	16.67	−1,411
1966	−0.47	16.76	17.24	−3,698
1967	−1.03	17.79	18.82	−8,643
1968	−2.8	17.04	19.85	−25,161
1969	0.33	19.06	18.73	3,242
1970	−0.27	18.42	18.69	−2,842
1971	−2.06	16.76	18.82	−23,033
1972	−1.92	17.04	18.97	−23,373
1973	−1.1	17.06	18.16	−14,908
1974	−0.41	17.75	18.16	−6,135
1975	−3.31	17.37	20.68	−53,242
1976	−4.13	16.69	20.82	−73,732
1977	−2.65	17.56	20.22	−53,659
1978	−2.6	17.58	20.18	−59,185
1979	−1.59	18.06	19.65	−40,726
1980	−2.64	18.52	21.17	−73,830
1981	−2.52	19.13	21.65	−78,968
1982	−3.86	18.64	22.51	−127,977
1983	−5.88	16.98	22.86	−207,802
1984	−4.69	16.88	21.57	−185,367
1985	−4.98	17.21	22.19	−212,308
1986	−4.89	16.99	21.88	−221,227
1987	−3.14	17.92	21.06	−149,730
1988	−3.02	17.69	20.71	−155,178
1989	−2.75	17.84	20.59	−152,639
1990	−3.75	17.49	21.24	−221,036
1991	−4.42	17.31	21.73	−269,238
1992	−4.52	17.01	21.53	−290,321
1993	−3.76	17.04	20.8	−255,051
1994	−2.83	17.54	20.37	−203,186
1995	−2.17	17.88	20.05	−163,952
1996	−1.35	18.27	19.63	−107,431
1997	−0.26	18.69	18.95	−21,884
1998	0.78	19.28	18.5	69,270
1999	1.33	19.28	17.95	125,610
2000	2.34	20.02	17.68	236,241
2001	1.22	18.92	17.7	128,236
2002	−1.46	17.11	18.57	−157,758
2003	−3.35	15.8	19.15	−377,585
2004	−3.43	15.63	19.06	−412,727
2005	−2.48	16.77	19.25	−318,346
2006	−1.82	17.65	19.47	−248,181
2007	−1.12	17.95	19.07	−160,701
2008	−3.1	17.06	20.16	−458,553
2009	−9.76	14.55	24.31	−1,412,688
2010	−8.7	14.53	23.23	−1,294,373
2011	−8.4	14.89	23.3	−1,299,599
2012	−6.68	15.21	21.89	−1,076,573
2013	−4.07	16.63	20.7	−679,775
2014	−2.78	17.34	20.12	−484,793
2015	−2.43	17.89	20.32	−441,960
2016	−3.14	17.53	20.67	−584,650
2017	−3.43	17.12	20.55	−665,450
2018	−3.81	16.29	20.11	−779,074
2019	−4.62	16.27	20.89	−983,588
2020	−14.51	16.03	30.54	−3,095,653
2021	−12.04	17.56	29.6	−2,773,594
2022	−5.38	19.16	24.53	−1,374,171
2023	−6.16	16.21	22.37	−1,687,467
2024	−6.27	17	23.27	−1,815,377
2025	−5.85	17.27	23.12	−1,774,684

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Higgins Strategy. “The government has run a deficit in 52 of the 56 fiscal years since 1970” Exhibit 3, The Debt, the Waste and the Tax (Study X). October 12, 2026. https://higginsstrategy.com/charts/10-surplus-or-deficit-1901-2025/