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Monthly Treasury Statement, table 5 · federal outlays by agency, 12 months to each month-end

Which agencies spend the most federal money?

Health and Human Services made up 27.1% of federal outlays in the 12 months to , Social Security Administration 23.4% and Treasury Department 21.4%.

Share of federal outlays by agency, 12 months to each month-end

128 periods, Feb 2016 to Sep 2026The full height is 100%

Share of federal outlays by agency, 12 months to each month-end, Feb 2016 to Sep 2026
  • All other agencies 5.3%
  • Office of Personnel Management 1.8%
  • Agriculture 2.9%
  • Veterans Affairs 5.6%
  • Defense (military programs) 12.4%
  • Treasury Department 21.4%
  • Social Security Administration 23.4%
  • Health and Human Services 27.1%

Each band is one agency's share of the whole, the first agency at the bottom; the shares are ours, worked out from the Treasury's amounts. Pointing at a period shows its shares. Each year's end is under "The numbers behind the chart".

Observed .

Right now

Health and Human Services made up 27.1% of federal outlays in the 12 months to , Social Security Administration 23.4% and Treasury Department 21.4%.

The whole was $7.40T in the 12 months to .

See each year's shares

Over time

Over the year to , Treasury Department rose from 20.8% to 21.4%, and All other agencies fell from 6.0% to 5.3%.

Since , Treasury Department rose from 13.9% to 21.4%, and Defense (military programs) fell from 15.0% to 12.4%.

See the shares year by year

OursOur arithmetic

The amounts are the Treasury's. A share is one agency's amount divided by the sum of all agencys, to one decimal, and is worked out by 500metrics.

Understanding outlays by agency

Where it stands today

Health and Human Services made up 27.1% of federal outlaysin the 12 months to.

How is this chart made?

Outlays are the money the federal government spends. The Treasury's monthly statement lists them by agency: the cabinet departments, the Social Security Administration, the Office of Personnel Management and a group of smaller independent agencies. Each figure here is the agency's net outlays, what it spent less the receipts that offset that spending.

Read more

The chart names seven agencies and, as the last band, groups all the other agencies together; an agency outside the seven can have larger outlays in a particular period, and is then counted in that last band. The Department of Health and Human Services runs Medicare and Medicaid, and the Social Security Administration pays Social Security benefits. The Treasury Department's outlays include the interest the government pays on its debt. Defense here is the Department of Defense's military programs; the Corps of Engineers and the other defense civil programs are agencies of their own in the statement.

The amounts are the Treasury's, as the statement prints them, in dollars and cents; this page shows whole millions of dollars. Each share is the amount of one part divided by the sum of all parts, worked out by 500metrics.

The numbers behind the chart

What share did each agency hold in the 12 months to the end of September in each year?11 rows, newest first
Share of federal outlays in each agency in the 12 months to the end of September in each year, newest first
12 months toHealth and Human ServicesSocial Security AdministrationTreasury DepartmentDefense (military programs)Veterans AffairsAgricultureOffice of Personnel ManagementAll other agencies
27.1%23.4%21.4%12.4%5.6%2.9%1.8%5.3%
26.9%23.5%20.8%12.4%5.4%3.2%1.8%6.0%
25.5%22.5%19.4%12.2%4.8%3.0%1.9%10.6%
27.9%23.1%18.0%12.6%4.9%3.7%2.0%7.7%
26.2%20.4%18.5%11.6%4.4%3.9%1.8%13.2%
21.5%17.5%24.0%10.5%3.4%3.4%1.6%18.0%
23.0%17.6%17.6%10.5%3.3%2.8%1.6%23.6%
27.3%24.8%15.5%14.7%4.5%3.4%2.3%7.5%
27.3%25.3%15.3%14.6%4.3%3.3%2.4%7.4%
28.1%25.2%13.7%14.3%4.4%3.2%2.4%8.7%
28.6%25.3%13.7%14.7%4.5%3.6%2.4%7.2%

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

How much was each agency, in millions of dollars?Millions of dollars of outlays in the 12 months to the month-end
Millions of dollars of outlays in the 12 months to the month-end, in each year, newest first
12 months toHealth and Human ServicesSocial Security AdministrationTreasury DepartmentDefense (military programs)Veterans AffairsAgricultureOffice of Personnel ManagementAll other agenciesAll agencys
2,003,8311,733,8531,580,964916,855415,575216,653135,809392,1977,395,737
1,884,2771,646,5151,458,911868,412376,591227,432128,239419,9407,010,317
1,720,6211,519,7341,311,852826,288325,004203,402126,173713,4026,746,476
1,708,5211,416,3281,106,950775,871301,026228,887123,008473,8406,134,431
1,642,8951,282,0561,162,223726,570273,867245,216113,072825,7366,271,635
1,466,6731,192,4531,633,747717,585233,781235,193108,5521,230,1646,818,148
1,503,8161,153,9141,151,702690,523218,394184,223105,6251,543,8346,552,031
1,213,8051,101,833689,496653,948199,573150,121103,138334,6674,446,581
1,120,5001,039,902629,448600,706178,509136,71398,802303,1734,107,753
1,116,7641,000,815546,434568,905176,050127,56395,461347,1383,979,130
1,102,965976,783526,103565,364174,018138,15891,316279,3753,854,082

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What do the figures leave out, and what are their dates?Limits and dates

What this number cannot tell you

  • All other agencies also holds the undistributed offsetting receipts, which are below zero and reduce total outlays (what federal agencies pay into their employees' retirement funds, interest credited to trust funds, and rents and royalties from oil and gas leases on federal land and waters). It is the smaller agencies less those receipts, and it is above zero in every period shown.
  • An agency's figure is the total line the statement prints for it, so it counts the benefits, grants and interest payments the agency makes for programs it runs, and not only the cost of its own offices.
  • Table 5 begins in March 2015 in the data the Treasury's Fiscal Data service gives; older statements are published as documents only. The first period ends in February 2016, because it needs twelve months. A share is printed to one decimal, so a part under 0.05 percent of the whole shows as 0.0%.
  • A month whose agencies and undistributed offsetting receipts do not add up to the statement's own total outlays is left out, and so are the periods that would hold it. The Treasury revises months after it first prints them; each month is as the table gives it now.

Dates

Observed
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Next expected

Observed .

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