The U.S. government’s budget deficit hit its highest since the COVID-19 pandemic years in 2024, propelled by increased debt interest costs and higher Social Security and defense spending — which more than offset a boost in tax revenues.

The shortfall for the fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, came to $1.83 trillion, up from $1.7 trillion the previous year and the largest on record aside from the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years, U.S. Treasury data released Friday showed.

Treasury officials highlighted that the widening was largely due to accounting for the Biden administration’s broad student debt relief plan, which the Supreme Court canceled in mid-2023. That cancellation effectively reduced the official deficit for that year, making this year’s look bigger by comparison. Taking that impact out, and adjusting for calendar differences, the deficit shrank 4%, Treasury officials said Friday. Nevertheless, the figures for both years exceeded 6% of gross domestic product, an unusually high burden outside of economic recessions or world wars.