What does the US Government Spending and Investment table measure?

This table measures United States government consumption expenditures and gross investment included in GDP, broken down by type of expenditure and level of government.

Does this table include total US federal budget expenditure like Social Security?

No, transfer payments such as Social Security, Medicare, and public debt interest payments are excluded because they do not purchase any goods or services.

How frequently is the US Government Spending and Investment data published?

The data are published quarterly by the Bureau of Economic Analysis as part of the National Income and Product Accounts.

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US Government Spending and Investment

Name: US Government Spending and Investment
Creator: BEA (US Bureau of Economic Analysis)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

US government consumption expenditures and gross investment quarterly from the BEA.

Source: BEA (US Bureau of Economic Analysis)Last updated: Sep 21, 2026, 14:10Curated by Bui Thanh PhucAbout this data ↓

Indicator	Q2-2026	Q1-2026	Q4-2025	Q3-2025	Q2-2025	Q1-2025	Q4-2024	Q3-2024	Q2-2024	Q1-2024	Q4-2023	Q3-2023	Q2-2023
Government consumption expenditures and gross investment4	5,543.81	5,416.72	5,343.51	5,324.4	5,236.97	5,195.52	5,150.73	5,086.92	4,995.15	4,931.78	4,861.01	4,789.73	4,673.36
Consumption expenditures	4,384.93	4,274.77	4,215.95	4,208.46	4,131.97	4,104.87	4,071.41	4,021.88	3,959.5	3,914.57	3,848.13	3,808.37	3,706.16
Investment3	1,158.88	1,141.95	1,127.57	1,115.94	1,105	1,090.65	1,079.31	1,065.05	1,035.65	1,017.21	1,012.89	981.37	967.2
Structures	551.16	542.95	536.39	531.48	529.4	519.04	515.96	504.24	492.64	487.93	485.38	461.3	450.78
Equipment	222.1	217.86	214.13	210.74	206.3	207.01	201.69	202.29	190.09	183.06	188.9	186.78	185.09
Intellectual property products2	385.62	381.14	377.04	373.73	369.3	364.6	361.66	358.53	352.91	346.22	338.61	333.29	331.33
Software	144.74	141.13	138.04	135.73	132.04	128.23	125.35	123.88	120.95	117.91	115.13	112.6	111.44
Research and development	240.88	240.01	239	238	237.27	236.37	236.31	234.65	231.97	228.31	223.49	220.69	219.9
Federal4	1,988.7	1,986.8	1,971.84	1,989.73	1,956.42	1,949.73	1,949.97	1,917.85	1,867.53	1,834.26	1,811.98	1,784.36	1,738.8
Consumption expenditures	1,508.97	1,512.52	1,497.85	1,516.66	1,487.63	1,481.87	1,485.78	1,456.84	1,422.42	1,400.87	1,377.47	1,359.01	1,314.77
Investment3	479.73	474.28	473.99	473.06	468.78	467.86	464.19	461.01	445.11	433.39	434.51	425.35	424.03
Structures	45.17	43.54	41.93	41.81	41.05	37.43	38.15	36.79	35.3	34.87	35.73	33.07	34.24
Equipment	135.18	133.77	137.57	138.48	137.69	143.23	140.36	140.64	130.15	123.87	130.02	127.72	125.64
Intellectual property products2	299.38	296.98	294.49	292.78	290.05	287.19	285.68	283.58	279.66	274.65	268.76	264.55	264.15
Software	90.9	89.09	87.39	86.29	83.99	81.38	79.92	78.95	77.24	75.5	73.95	72.09	72.03
Research and development	208.48	207.89	207.1	206.49	206.06	205.82	205.76	204.62	202.42	199.15	194.81	192.46	192.12
National defense2	1,198.04	1,170.43	1,159.18	1,161.91	1,135.77	1,116.61	1,122.73	1,104.16	1,064.34	1,039.65	1,034.47	1,018.38	988.01
Consumption expenditures	948.98	922.91	909.35	913.85	890.83	873.5	884.43	868.15	841.43	825.03	814.08	801.97	774.21
Investment3	249.06	247.53	249.83	248.07	244.93	243.11	238.3	236.02	222.91	214.62	220.39	216.42	213.81
Structures	21.5	21.71	20.91	20.14	19.93	17.03	18.46	17.63	16.52	15.74	15.51	14.35	14.39
Equipment	111.27	110.09	113.59	113.61	112.83	116.92	114.26	115.37	105.46	99.23	105.64	103.3	100.95
Intellectual property products2	116.3	115.73	115.33	114.32	112.17	109.16	105.57	103.02	100.93	99.65	99.23	98.76	98.46
Software	30.8	29.99	29.26	28.77	27.96	27.13	26.56	26.23	25.58	24.95	24.38	23.84	23.55
Research and development	85.5	85.74	86.06	85.55	84.21	82.03	79.01	76.79	75.35	74.71	74.85	74.92	74.92
Nondefense2	790.66	816.37	812.65	827.82	820.65	833.12	827.24	813.69	803.19	794.61	777.51	765.97	750.78
Consumption expenditures	560	589.61	588.5	602.82	596.8	608.37	601.35	588.7	580.99	575.84	563.39	557.04	540.56
Investment3	230.67	226.76	224.16	225	223.85	224.75	225.89	225	222.2	218.77	214.12	208.93	210.22
Structures	23.67	21.83	21.02	21.67	21.11	20.4	19.69	19.17	18.77	19.13	20.22	18.72	19.85
Equipment	23.92	23.68	23.97	24.87	24.85	26.31	26.1	25.27	24.69	24.65	24.38	24.42	24.69
Intellectual property products2	183.08	181.24	179.16	178.46	177.89	178.04	180.11	180.56	178.73	175	169.52	165.79	165.69
Software	60.1	59.1	58.13	57.52	56.03	54.25	53.36	52.72	51.66	50.55	49.57	48.25	48.49
Research and development	122.98	122.14	121.03	120.94	121.86	123.79	126.75	127.84	127.07	124.44	119.96	117.54	117.2
State and local2	3,555.11	3,429.91	3,371.68	3,334.68	3,280.55	3,245.79	3,200.76	3,169.07	3,127.62	3,097.52	3,049.04	3,005.38	2,934.56
Consumption expenditures	2,875.96	2,762.25	2,718.09	2,691.8	2,644.34	2,623	2,585.63	2,565.03	2,537.08	2,513.7	2,470.66	2,449.36	2,391.39
Investment3	679.15	667.66	653.58	642.88	636.22	622.79	615.13	604.04	590.54	583.82	578.38	556.02	543.17
Structures	506	499.41	494.46	489.67	488.36	481.61	477.82	467.44	457.35	453.06	449.65	428.22	416.54
Equipment	86.91	84.09	76.57	72.26	68.61	63.78	61.33	61.65	59.94	59.19	58.88	59.05	59.45
Intellectual property products2	86.24	84.16	82.55	80.95	79.25	77.4	75.98	74.95	73.25	71.57	69.86	68.74	67.18
Software	53.84	52.03	50.65	49.44	48.05	46.85	45.43	44.92	43.71	42.41	41.18	40.51	39.41
Research and development	32.4	32.13	31.91	31.51	31.2	30.55	30.55	30.02	29.54	29.16	28.68	28.23	27.78

Latest reading

The latest reading is 5,543.81 USD billion, for Q2 2026. That is +2.3% from Q1 2026 and +5.9% from a year earlier. The series on this page is quarterly and runs from Q1 1947 to Q2 2026. Source: BEA (US Bureau of Economic Analysis).

Latest: 5,543.81 USD billion; Q2 2026
vs previous period: +2.3%; Q1 2026
vs a year earlier: +5.9%

About this data

US government consumption expenditures and gross investment quarterly from the BEA. Government expenditure included in GDP is broken down simultaneously along two dimensions: by type of expenditure and by level of government. This series excludes transfer payments like Social Security and interest on public debt because they do not purchase goods or services. Source: BEA.

Frequently asked questions

What does the US Government Spending and Investment table measure?: This table measures United States government consumption expenditures and gross investment included in GDP, broken down by type of expenditure and level of government.
Does this table include total US federal budget expenditure like Social Security?: No, transfer payments such as Social Security, Medicare, and public debt interest payments are excluded because they do not purchase any goods or services.
How frequently is the US Government Spending and Investment data published?: The data are published quarterly by the Bureau of Economic Analysis as part of the National Income and Product Accounts.
How far back do the government spending and investment series go?: The quarterly series for United States government consumption expenditures and gross investment start in 1947 and are updated with every release.