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A History of Surpluses and Deficits in the United States
On this page you will find a history of surpluses and deficits in the United States, running all the way back until 1789.
Directly underneath you will find an up-to-date table that contains all of the budget surpluses and deficits in the United States from 1940 until present day, both in nominal dollars and inflation adjusted dollars. Projections for both 2009 and 2010 are included as well:
Deficits/Surpluses From 1940 Until 2011 (*fiscal years)
1* - Presidential control
2* - Senate control
3* - House control
D = Democrat R = Republican
| Year | Nominal Dollars | Inflation Adjusted | 1* | 2* | 3* |
| 1940 | 2.9 Billion Dollar Deficit | 46.03 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1941 | 4.9 Billion Dollar Deficit | 74.24 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1942 | 20.5 Billion Dollar Deficit | 277.03 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1943 | 54.6 Billion Dollar Deficit | 700 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1944 | 47.6 Billion Dollar Deficit | 595 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1945 | 47.6 Billion Dollar Deficit | 587.65 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1946 | 15.9 Billion Dollar Deficit | 180.68 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1947 | 4 Billion Dollar Surplus | 39.6 Billion Surplus | D | R | R |
| 1948 | 11.8 Billion Dollar Surplus | 108.26 Billion Surplus | D | R | R |
| 1949 | 0.6 Billion Dollar Surplus | 5.56 Billion Surplus | D | D | D |
| 1950 | 3.1 Billion Dollar Deficit | 28.44 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1951 | 6.1 Billion Dollar Surplus | 51.69 Billion Surplus | D | D | D |
| 1952 | 1.5 Billion Dollar Deficit | 12.5 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1953 | 6.5 Billion Dollar Deficit | 53.72 Billion Deficit | R | R | D |
| 1954 | 1.2 Billion Dollar Deficit | 9.84 Billion Deficit | R | R | D |
| 1955 | 3 Billion Dollar Deficit | 24.79 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1956 | 3.9 Billion Dollar Surplus | 31.71 Billion Surplus | R | D | D |
| 1957 | 3.4 Billion Dollar Surplus | 26.77 Billion Surplus | R | D | D |
| 1958 | 2.8 Billion Dollar Deficit | 21.37 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1959 | 12.8 Billion Dollar Deficit | 96.97 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1960 | 0.3 Billion Dollar Surplus | 2.24 Billion Surplus | R | D | D |
| 1961 | 3.3 Billion Dollar Deficit | 24.44 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1962 | 7.1 Billion Dollar Deficit | 51.82 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1963 | 4.8 Billion Dollar Deficit | 34.78 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1964 | 5.9 Billion Dollar Deficit | 42.14 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1965 | 1.4 Billion Dollar Deficit | 9.86 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1966 | 3.7 Billion Dollar Deficit | 25.34 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1967 | 8.6 Billion Dollar Deficit | 56.95 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1968 | 25.2 Billion Dollar Deficit | 160.51 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1969 | 3.2 Billion Dollar Surplus | 19.28 Billion Surplus | R | D | D |
| 1970 | 2.8 Billion Dollar Deficit | 16 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1971 | 23 Billion Dollar Deficit | 125.68 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1972 | 23.4 Billion Dollar Deficit | 123.81 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1973 | 14.9 Billion Dollar Deficit | 74.13 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1974 | 6.1 Billion Dollar Deficit | 27.35 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1975 | 53.2 Billion Dollar Deficit | 218.93 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1976 | 73.7 Billion Dollar Deficit | 286.77 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1977 | 53.7 Billion Dollar Deficit | 195.99 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1978 | 59.2 Billion Dollar Deficit | 200.68 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1979 | 40.7 Billion Dollar Deficit | 124.09 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1980 | 73.8 Billion Dollar Deficit | 197.86 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1981 | 79 Billion Dollar Deficit | 192.21 Billion Deficit | R | R | D |
| 1982 | 128 Billion Dollar Deficit | 293.58 Billion Deficit | R | R | D |
| 1983 | 207.8 Billion Dollar Deficit | 461.78 Billion Deficit | R | R | D |
| 1984 | 185.4 Billion Dollar Deficit | 394.47 Billion Deficit | R | R | D |
| 1985 | 212.3 Billion Dollar Deficit | 436.83 Billion Deficit | R | R | D |
| 1986 | 221.2 Billion Dollar Deficit | 446.87 Billion Deficit | R | R | D |
| 1987 | 149.7 Billion Dollar Deficit | 291.25 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1988 | 155.2 Billion Dollar Deficit | 290.09 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1989 | 152.5 Billion Dollar Deficit | 271.84 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1990 | 221.2 Billion Dollar Deficit | 374.28 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1991 | 269.3 Billion Dollar Deficit | 437.18 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1992 | 290.4 Billion Dollar Deficit | 458.04 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 1993 | 255.1 Billion Dollar Deficit | 390.66 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1994 | 203.2 Billion Dollar Deficit | 303.28 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 1995 | 164 Billion Dollar Deficit | 238.03 Billion Deficit | D | R | R |
| 1996 | 107.5 Billion Dollar Deficit | 151.62 Billion Deficit | D | R | R |
| 1997 | 22 Billion Dollar Deficit | 30.3 Billion Deficit | D | R | R |
| 1998 | 69.2 Billion Dollar Surplus | 93.89 Billion Surplus | D | R | R |
| 1999 | 125.6 Billion Dollar Surplus | 166.8 Billion Surplus | D | R | R |
| 2000 | 236.4 Billion Dollar Surplus | 303.86 Billion Surplus | D | R | R |
| 2001 | 127.3 Billion Dollar Surplus | 158.93 Billion Surplus | R | D | R |
| 2002 | 157.8 Billion Dollar Deficit | 194.1 Billion Deficit | R | D | R |
| 2003 | 374 Billion Dollar Deficit | 449.52 Billion Deficit | R | R | R |
| 2004 | 413 Billion Dollar Deficit | 483.61 Billion Deficit | R | R | R |
| 2005 | 319 Billion Dollar Deficit | 361.27 Billion Deficit | R | R | R |
| 2006 | 248 Billion Dollar Deficit | 272.23 Billion Deficit | R | R | R |
| 2007 | 162 Billion Dollar Deficit | 172.89 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 2008 | 455 Billion Dollar Deficit | 467.63 Billion Deficit | R | D | D |
| 2009 | 1416 Billion Dollar Deficit | 1459.79 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 2010 | 1294 Billion Dollar Deficit | 1312.37 Billion Deficit | D | D | D |
| 2011 | 1299 Billion Dollar Deficit | 1299 Billion Deficit | D | D | R |
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1789 to 1900 (Nominal Dollars)
1789 to 1849: Cumulative Surplus of $70 million dollars
1850 to 1900: Cumulative Deficit of $991 million dollars
1901 to 1939 (Nominal Dollars)
Year - Nominal Dollars - Surplus/Deficit
1901 - 63 million
1902 - 77 million
1903 - 45 million
1904 - 43 million
1905 - 23 million
1906 - 25 million
1907 - 87 million
1908 - 57 million
1909 - 89 million
1910 - 18 million
1911 - 11 million
1912 - 3 million
1913 - Breakeven
1914 - Breakeven
1915 - 63 million
1916 - 48 million
1917 - 853 million
1918 - 9.03 billion
1919 - 13.36 billion
1920 - 291 million
1921 - 509 million
1922 - 736 million
1923 - 713 million
1924 - 963 million
1925 - 717 million
1926 - 865 million
1927 - 1.15 billion
1928 - 939 million
1929 - 734 million
1930 - 738 million
1931 - 462 million
1932 - 2.76 billion
1933 - 2.6 billion
1934 - 3.59 billion
1935 - 2.8 billion
1936 - 4.3 billion
1937 - 2.2 billion
1938 - 89 million
1939 - 2.85 billion
While the 2009 and 2010 deficits will certainly be the largest ever (even after adjusting previous deficits for inflation), they will not even be close to the largest ever in terms of % of GDP, as you can see below:
Top Five Highest Years of Deficit vs GDP %
1943 - 30.3% of GDP
1944 - 22.8% of GDP
1945 - 21.5% of GDP
1942 - 14.2% of GDP
1983 - 6.0% of GDP
2009 Deficit Estimated to be 12-13% of GDP
2010 Deficit Estimated to be 9-10% of GDP
Major Events from 1940 to 2009
Great Depression - 1929 to 1938
WWII - 1939 to 1945
Korean War - 1950 to 1953
Vietnam War - 1955 to 1975 (US combat units deployed in 1965)
Oil Embargo - 1973
Soviet Union Collapses - 1991
Gulf War - 1990-1991
9/11 - September 11th, 2001
Iraq War - 2003 to ?
Global Financial Meltdown - 2007 to ?
In the last 69 years, the U.S. government has managed to post 12 surpluses, with the most recent coming in 2001.
The largest uninterrupted stretch of surpluses came between 1920 and 1930. This eventually came to an end after the government spent billions of dollars combating the Great Depression.
The largest uninterrupted stretch of deficits came between 1970 and 1997.
It's hard to imagine that the United States will post a surplus anytime soon - will we give the 28 year stretch between 1970 and 1997 a run for its money?
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