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Small Business Administration
Most recent quarterly backlog
82
End of FY2025 Q4 (Jul 1 – Sep 30, 2025)
Latest annual report
925
End of FY2024 (Sept 30, 2024)
17-year change
+3204%
FY2008 → FY2024 (Oct 1, 2007 – Sept 30, 2024)
Annual backlog, FY2008–FY2024
Pending requests at end of each fiscal year (Oct 1, 2007 – Sept 30, 2024). Federal fiscal year runs Oct 1 – Sept 30, named for the year it ends.
FY08: 28
FY10: 18
FY12: 43
FY14: 24
FY16: 94
FY18: 52
FY20: 1,595
FY22: 1,500
FY24: 925
Dashed verticals mark presidential inaugurations.
Recent quarterly activity
Last 7 quarters of received, processed, and backlog. Most recent: FY2025 Q4 (Jul 1 – Sep 30, 2025).
Backlog
82
Received per quarter
1,147
Processed per quarter
1,065
10 oldest pending requests, end of FY2024 (Sept 30, 2024)
Days pending counts forward from the day the request was received. The longer this list runs, the more litigation-ripe the agency’s backlog.
| Rank | Date received | Days pending | Years pending |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 2020-02-20 | 1,157 | 3.2 |
| #2 | 2020-03-12 | 1,142 | 3.1 |
| #3 | 2020-03-17 | 1,139 | 3.1 |
| #4 | 2020-03-19 | 1,137 | 3.1 |
| #5 | 2020-03-25 | 1,133 | 3.1 |
| #6 | 2020-04-14 | 1,119 | 3.1 |
| #7 | 2020-05-07 | 1,102 | 3.0 |
| #8 | 2020-05-07 | 1,102 | 3.0 |
| #9 | 2020-05-08 | 1,101 | 3.0 |
| #10 | 2020-05-12 | 1,099 | 3.0 |
Exemption invocations, FY2024 (Oct 1, 2023 – Sept 30, 2024)
How often each FOIA exemption (b1–b9) was invoked when redacting or denying records. Exemption 5 (deliberative process, attorney-client) is highlighted — it’s the most-fought exemption in FOIA litigation.
FOIA staffing, FY2024 (Oct 1, 2023 – Sept 30, 2024)
Full-time employees
18
Equivalent FTE
172.7
Total FTE
190.7
Annual report history
| FY | Received | Processed | Pending end |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | 6,813 | 7,092 | 925 |
| FY2023 | 4,381 | 4,133 | 1,204 |
| FY2022 | 7,844 | 10,828 | 1,500 |
| FY2021 | 18,127 | 15,238 | 4,484 |
| FY2020 | 4,529 | 3,020 | 1,595 |
| FY2019 | 895 | 923 | 86 |
| FY2018 | 1,089 | 1,061 | 52 |
| FY2017 | 1,430 | 1,500 | 24 |
| FY2016 | 1,116 | 1,075 | 94 |
| FY2015 | 955 | 926 | 53 |
| FY2014 | 1,306 | 1,312 | 24 |
| FY2013 | 4,933 | 4,946 | 30 |
| FY2012 | 3,870 | 3,848 | 43 |
| FY2011 | 3,135 | 3,132 | 21 |
| FY2010 | 3,162 | 3,166 | 18 |
| FY2009 | 3,892 | 3,898 | 22 |
| FY2008 | 2,637 | 2,640 | 28 |
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