Results in Brief
The “Nation by the Numbers” table on the preceding page and the following summarize key metrics about the federal government’s financial position for and during FY 2025:
- The budget deficit decreased by $41.4 billion (2.3 percent) to $1.8 trillion and net operating cost decreased by $292.0 billion (12.2 percent) to $2.1 trillion. The primary contributor to the difference between the deficit and net operating cost is an increase in the liability for federal employee and veteran benefits payable that affects the government’s current-year costs but does not affect the current-year budget deficit.
- The government’s gross costs of $8.1 trillion, less $752.2 billion in revenues earned for goods and services provided to the public, plus $18.6 billion in net losses from changes in assumptions yields the government’s net cost of $7.3 trillion, a decrease of $25.3 billion (0.3 percent) from FY 2024.
- Net cost decreased but is subject to both cost increases and decreases across the government. For example:
- The largest decreases were due to: 1) changes in student loan program subsidy estimates at the Department of Education (Education); and 2) significant net decreases in losses stemming from changes in assumptions affecting cost and liability estimates for the government’s employee and veteran benefits.
- The largest increases were due to increases in federal benefit expenses at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the Medicare and Medicaid programs and at the Social Security Administration (SSA).
- Tax and other unearned revenues increased by $266.7 billion to $5.2 trillion, including the effects of: 1) an increase in individual income tax collections; and 2) an increase in customs duties of $133.9 billion (275.3 percent) due in large part to multiple tariffs implemented during FY 2025. Deducting these revenues from net cost yields the federal government’s “bottom line” net operating cost of $2.1 trillion referenced above.
- Comparing total government assets of $6.1 trillion (including $2.0 trillion of loans receivable, net and $1.4 trillion of Property, Plant, and Equipment (PP&E)) to total liabilities of $47.8 trillion (including $30.3 trillion in federal debt and interest payable, and $15.5 trillion of federal employee and veteran benefits payable) yields a negative net position of $41.7 trillion.
- The Statements of Long-Term Fiscal Projections (SLTFP) show that the present value (PV) of total non-interest spending, over the next 75 years, under current policy, is projected to exceed the PV of total receipts by $79.6 trillion (total federal non-interest net expenditures from the “Nation By The Numbers” table), an increase of $6.9 trillion from FY 2024 results.
- The debt held by the public as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP), or debt-to-GDP ratio, was 99 percent at the end of FY 2025. Under current policy and based on this report’s assumptions, it is projected to reach 576 percent by 2100. The projected continuous rise of the debt-to-GDP ratio indicates that current policy is unsustainable.
- The Statements of Social Insurance (SOSI) show that the PV of the government’s expenditures for Social Security and Medicare Parts A, B and D, as well as other social insurance programs over 75 years is projected to exceed social insurance revenues by about $88.4 trillion, an increase of $10.1 trillion compared to 2024 social insurance projections.