The U.S. finished the 2026 fiscal year with a budget deficit of nearly $2 trillion, the latest measurement to underscore the extent of the country’s financial stress.
The $1.992 trillion figure was about 12% higher than the $1.775 trillion deficit in the prior fiscal year, the Treasury Department reported Friday
It’s the third-highest annual deficit in U.S. history, behind only 2020 and 2021, when the federal government was doling out trillions of dollars in financial stimulus amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2026 fiscal year saw record sums for both receipts and outlays, according to a Treasury Department official. With Friday’s release, the U.S. officially recorded its 25th straight fiscal year operating at a deficit.
The government last recorded a surplus — meaning its revenues were larger than debts — in 2001. Friday’s report offers fresh evidence of how the U.S.’s fast-growing debt pile has dragged on the nation’s overall financial health. The rising debt bill has helped exacerbate angst among bond traders, who sent the 10-year and 30-year U.S.