The US federal budget deficit for 2026 just came in. It's $1.992 trillion.

The US federal budget deficit for 2026 officially came in Friday at $1.992 trillion, a final tabulation to close out the government's fiscal year and another reminder of Washington's spiraling reliance on red ink.

This deficit number represents about 6% of the US gross domestic product and was a result of $5.403 trillion in total revenues for the fiscal year against total spending of $7.396 trillion.

The 2026 reading is a 12% jump from 2025's $1.775 trillion deficit.

These final numbers came in the Treasury Department's Monthly Statement for September, which covers the final month in the US government's fiscal calendar.

The red ink has led to dire warnings from economists that the US now routinely runs annual deficits that were previously seen only during recessions and wars. The gross US national debt passed $40 trillion in August and now sits above $40.3 trillion.

The latest "Debt to the Penny" reading from the Treasury Department came this past Wednesday, putting the gross US national debt at $40,329,229,827,541.02.

The independent budget hawks at the Committee for a Responsible Budget noted in a recent analysis that "the country's future fiscal outlook is even more dismal," noting that annual deficits could reach $3.1 trillion by 2036 without a change in the fiscal trajectory.

The group noted that annual interest costs on the debt are now $1.1 trillion, a record 3.4% of GDP, making it the second-largest line item in the government's budget. Interest on the debt still costs less than Social Security , but it is now more expensive than either Medicare or the defense budget.

Members of President Trump's team have tried to downplay this year's tabulation — the highest annual deficit reading other than 2020 and 2021, when budgets were inflated by COVID-era spending — as a blip and insist that the US fiscal situation is getting under control.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has focused on the Supreme Court-ordered tariff refunds that have turned a revenue stream into a cost center for the government in recent months.

Indeed, the impact of tariff refunds has been significant: $144.6 billion in tariff refunds were given out over the past year — but analyses of the deficit also show a variety of factors that have driven up deficits.

A Hamilton Project tracker of government expenditures shows how government spending has increased at a steady pace in 2026. The tracker looks at spending by calendar year and shows that as of Oct. 14, government spending has jumped each of the last three years.