What are the biggest budget deficits in US history?

The federal government recorded one of the largest budget deficits in U.S. history this year when fiscal year 2025 concluded.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected to record a nearly $1.8 trillion deficit in fiscal year 2025 – which ranked as the fourth-largest deficit in U.S. history.

The CBO has projected that budget deficits are likely to rise to roughly $2 trillion annually in the next decade, as the cost of paying interest on the national debt mounts and spending on entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare that serve elderly Americans increases as the country's population ages.

With the national debt topping $38 trillion, there have been many fiscal years with large federal budget deficits. Here's a look at the seven largest federal budge