Federal Government Receipts and Expenditures, 1978–2008

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Below you will find United States government receipts and expenditures from Defense to Medicaid.

Current dollars (billions) Percent distribution
1978 1988 1998 20081 1978 1988 1998 20081
Receipts $446.5 $997.2 $1,844.2 $2,651.0 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Personal tax and nontax payments 193.8 414.4 858.0 1,205.5 43.4 41.6 46.5 45.5
Corporate profits tax 71.4 111.0 204.9 260.3 16.0 11.1 11.1 9.8
Contributions for social insurance 152.4 410.9 685.5 1,057.6 34.1 41.2 37.2 39.9
Indirect business tax 28.9 60.9 95.9 127.6 6.5 6.1 5.2 4.8
Expenditures $478.1 $1,118.5 $1,771.4 $2,537.9 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Defense consumption 118.4 297.9 301.5 389.3 24.8 26.6 17.0 15.3
Nondefense consumption 50.4 89.9 159.6 232.1 10.5 8.0 9.0 9.1
Transfer payments 186.2 437.2 816.6 1,351.6 38.9 39.1 46.1 53.3
To persons 182.4 425.8 803.4 1,332.4 38.2 38.1 45.4 52.5
Social Security 91.4 213.9 369.6 587.3 19.1 19.1 20.9 23.1
Medicare 24.9 86.5 217.0 431.1 5.2 7.7 12.2 17.0
Federal retirement 20.7 48.1 75.2 111.5 4.3 4.3 4.2 4.4
Other 13.7 21.3 28.1 36.2 2.9 1.9 1.6 1.4
To foreigners 3.8 11.4 13.2 19.3 0.8 1.0 .7 .8
Grants-in-aid 77.3 111.2 231.1 380.3 16.2 9.9 13.0 15.0
Medicaid 11.0 31.5 101.8 189.2 2.3 2.8 5.7 7.5
Other 66.3 79.7 129.3 191.0 13.9 7.1 7.3 7.5
Net interest paid 34.6 148.4 226.1 149.7 7.2 13.3 12.8 5.9
Net subsidies 11.4 33.9 36.6 34.9 2.4 3.0 2.1 1.4
Wage accruals less disbursements .1 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0
Surplus/deficit –31.6 –121.3 72.8 113.2
Surplus/deficit as percentage of gross domestic product –1.4% –2.4% .9% .9%
1. Projected.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Monthly Labor Review.

The Federal Budget, 2004–2009 U.S. Economy and the Federal Budget Summary of Federal Government Expenditure, by State and Territory,
Fiscal Year 2006
U.S. Economy and the Federal Budget
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