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United States: Central government expenditure (% of GDP)

Percent of GDP · 1791–2025 · 235 observations · cgovexp_GDP

2025
15.0%percent of GDP
Change on 2024
−0.3 pointsfrom 15.3%
Average, 2016–2025
15.5%10 years
Record high and low
36.9% (1945)low 0.741% (1843)

Central government expenditure (% of GDP)

Report error
0%10%20%30%40%18001850190019502000United StatesUnited States
Percent of GDP

Compare with other countries →Definition of Central government expenditure (% of GDP)

Recent values

Percent of GDP

YearValue
202515.0
202415.3
202315.3
202215.7
202120.9
202019.7
201913.3
201813.1
201713.1
201613.3

Sources

  • Mitchell1791–1992
  • Carter et al.1800–1939
  • Jordà-Schularick-Taylor1870–2020
  • Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis1960–2025
  • World Development Indicators1972–2023
  • IMF Government Finance Statistics1989–2025

Please cite: Müller, K., Xu, C., Lehbib, M., & Chen, Z. (2025). The Global Macro Database: A New International Macroeconomic Dataset. NBER Working Paper 33714. BibTeX →

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