The New York City skyline in the United States

United States Fiscal Balance

United States Fiscal Balance

Fiscal Balance in United States

The United States experienced significant fiscal shifts from 2013 to 2022. Early in the decade, efforts were made to reduce the post-financial crisis deficit, achieving some success. However, major tax cuts in 2017 reversed this trend, widening the deficit. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to unprecedented fiscal stimulus, further enlarging the deficit. By 2022, as the economy recovered, there was increased focus on deficit reduction, though the fiscal shortfall remained large.

The fiscal balance in the United States averaged -5.9% of GDP in the decade to 2023, above the major economies average of -4.5% of GDP. The fiscal balance in 2023 was -6.3% of GDP. For more fiscal balance information, visit our dedicated page.

United States Fiscal Balance Chart

Note: This chart displays Fiscal Balance (% of GDP) for United States from 2014 to 2023.
Source: United States Department of Treasury.

United States Fiscal Balance Data

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Fiscal Balance (Federal, % of GDP) -3.8 -4.6 -14.7 -12.1 -5.4
Consensus Forecasts and Projections for the next ten years

How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects American fiscal balance projections for the next ten years from a panel of 31 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable fiscal balance forecast available for American fiscal balance.

Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our American fiscal balance projections.

Want to get access to the full dataset of American fiscal balance forecasts? Send an email to info@focus-economics.com.

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