Visualizing America’s $1.8 Trillion Deficit

Key takeaways

• America’s federal deficit in FY2024 has grown to $1.83 trillion, up from $1.7 trillion last year
• Debt interest payments have become one of the biggest spending categories, totaling $882 billion

Interest costs have nearly tripled since 2020

In 2020, federal interest payments totaled $345 billion, which is less than half of what they are today. 

This is due to the combination of greater government spending (far exceeding revenues) and higher interest rates (which were introduced to combat inflation).