The document summarizes CBO's updated budget and economic projections from 2021 to 2031. It finds that primary deficits will hover around 2% of GDP through 2029, while net interest costs will rise from 1.3% in 2024 to 2.7% in 2031 due to mounting federal debt. The projected 2021 deficit has increased by a third due to recent legislation. Federal debt held by the public is projected to reach 106% of GDP by 2031, matching the previous peak in 1946. Outlays are projected to climb after 2024 as Social Security and healthcare costs rise along with interest rates, while revenues remain relatively flat, resulting in large deficits and rising debt levels.

1. Presentation to the American Council for Capital Formation
July 15, 2021
Phillip L. Swagel
Director
CBO’s Updated Budget and
Economic Projections
For more information about this presentation, see Congressional Budget Office, An Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: 2021 to 2031 (July 2021),
www.cbo.gov/publication/57218. For information about the host, see https://accf.org.

2. 1
GDP = gross domestic product.
Total Deficits, Primary Deficits, and Net Interest
In CBO’s projections,
primary deficits (which
exclude net interest
costs) hover at about
2 percent of GDP from
2023 to 2029 and
increase to 3 percent in
the years that follow.
Despite mounting federal
debt, low interest rates
hold down interest
payments through 2023.
Net interest costs then
increase in relation to the
size of the economy—
from 1.3 percent of GDP
in 2024 to 2.7 percent of
GDP in 2031.

3. 2
Changes in CBO’s Baseline Projections of the Deficit
Since February 2021
The projected deficit for
2021 has increased by a
third, mostly because of
recently enacted
legislation.

4. 3
Changes in CBO’s Baseline Projections of the Deficit
Since February 2021 (Continued)
The projected cumulative
deficit for the 2022–2031
period is slightly smaller
than it was in CBO’s
February baseline;
updates to projections of
revenues and mandatory
outlays were largely
offsetting.

5. 4
Federal Debt Held by the Public, 1940 to 2031
At the end of 2031, debt
is projected to reach
106 percent of GDP,
matching the previous
peak, recorded in 1946.

6. 5
Total Outlays and Revenues
Boosted by increased
spending for Social
Security and the major
health care programs
and by rising interest
rates on federal debt,
outlays climb steadily
after 2024 in CBO’s
projections. The wider-
than-average gap
between outlays and
revenues results in large
deficits and rising debt.

7. 6
The Relationship Between GDP and Potential GDP
The annual growth of
real (inflation-adjusted)
GDP exceeds that of real
potential GDP until 2023
in CBO’s projections.
That growth slows
thereafter as real GDP
returns to its long-term
relationship with potential
GDP.

8. 7
Real GDP per Potential Worker Across Business Cycles
The pandemic-induced
recession was much
sharper and more severe
than any recession in
recent history, but the
recovery has also been
unusually strong. In CBO’s
projections, real GDP per
potential worker grows
more quickly from its level
at the previous business
cycle peak than it has
during most economic
recoveries and expansions
since World War II.

9. 8
Unemployment
The unemployment rate
is projected to decline
through the remainder of
2021 and the first half of
2022 before returning to
its long-term relationship
with the noncyclical rate
of unemployment.

10. 9
PCE = personal consumption expenditures.
Inflation
After spiking in 2021 and
falling in 2022, inflation
increases in 2023 and
remains slightly above
the Federal Reserve’s
long-run goal of
2 percent for several
years.

11. 10
Interest Rates
The interest rate on 3-
month Treasury bills
remains near zero
through early 2023 and
then gradually rises as
the Federal Reserve
raises the federal funds
rate. The interest rate on
10-year Treasury notes
increases through 2023
but at a slower pace than
it did in the first few
months of 2021.

12. 11
Composition of the Growth of Real Potential GDP
From 2026 to 2031, real
potential GDP grows at
roughly the same rate as
it has since the 2007–
2009 recession in CBO’s
projections because of
faster growth in potential
labor force productivity.
However, growth in the
potential labor force is
projected to be slower
than it was in previous
periods, largely because
of the aging of the
population.