AmericaUnited States / Public finances
U.S. Federal Spending as Share of GDP.
What does federal spending buy—and how would we know?
The historical record
Source snapshotFY 2025
Latest observation in this snapshot—not a real-time reading. -0.2 pp vs FY 2024.
Fitted vertical axis · missing periods are not interpolated · annual
What the number means
Federal government outlays as a share of GDP.
Outlays describe spending, not results. This aggregate includes more than the contracts and grants searchable in award tools. A large amount is not evidence of waste; a credible value-for-money claim needs program-level outcomes.
Federal fiscal years. Spending alone does not show outcomes, efficiency, fraud, or value for money.
A better question to ask
Trace a spending claim to its program, budget, award where applicable, and independently checkable results.
This is a prompt for investigation, not evidence that a particular policy works. A trend alone cannot establish a cause.
Read the related practical guide ↗Exact observations
26 available observations since 2000. Annual and quarterly dates represent the start of the reporting period; fiscal years are labeled explicitly. Display values are rounded to the precision shown; downloads retain the source values.
Open the complete data table
| Reporting period | Period start | Value |
|---|---|---|
| FY 2025 | 2025-01-01 | 22.8% |
| FY 2024 | 2024-01-01 | 23.0% |
| FY 2023 | 2023-01-01 | 22.0% |
| FY 2022 | 2022-01-01 | 24.1% |
| FY 2021 | 2021-01-01 | 28.7% |
| FY 2020 | 2020-01-01 | 30.5% |
| FY 2019 | 2019-01-01 | 20.6% |
| FY 2018 | 2018-01-01 | 19.9% |
| FY 2017 | 2017-01-01 | 20.3% |
| FY 2016 | 2016-01-01 | 20.5% |
| FY 2015 | 2015-01-01 | 20.2% |
| FY 2014 | 2014-01-01 | 19.9% |
| FY 2013 | 2013-01-01 | 20.5% |
| FY 2012 | 2012-01-01 | 21.7% |
| FY 2011 | 2011-01-01 | 23.1% |
| FY 2010 | 2010-01-01 | 23.0% |
| FY 2009 | 2009-01-01 | 24.3% |
| FY 2008 | 2008-01-01 | 20.2% |
| FY 2007 | 2007-01-01 | 18.9% |
| FY 2006 | 2006-01-01 | 19.2% |
| FY 2005 | 2005-01-01 | 19.0% |
| FY 2004 | 2004-01-01 | 18.8% |
| FY 2003 | 2003-01-01 | 18.9% |
| FY 2002 | 2002-01-01 | 18.4% |
| FY 2001 | 2001-01-01 | 17.6% |
| FY 2000 | 2000-01-01 | 17.5% |
Follow this series home
- Series identifier
- FYONGDA188S
- Provider
- FRED / original statistical source
- Original source attribution
- U.S. Office of Management and Budget
- Frequency
- Annual · federal fiscal years
- Source units
- Percent of GDP , Not Seasonally Adjusted
- Displayed units
- % of GDP
- Retrieval time
- 2026-10-04T09:04:46.416Z
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