U.S. Department of State

Most recent quarterly backlog

32,295

End of FY2026 Q1 (Oct 1 – Dec 31, 2025)

Latest annual report

32,369

End of FY2025 (Sept 30, 2025)

18-year change

+599%

FY2008 → FY2025 (Oct 1, 2007 – Sept 30, 2025)

Annual backlog, FY2008–FY2025

Pending requests at end of each fiscal year (Oct 1, 2007 – Sept 30, 2025). Federal fiscal year runs Oct 1 – Sept 30, named for the year it ends.

FY08: 4,629

FY10: 21,135

FY12: 11,789

FY14: 10,974

FY16: 24,210

FY18: 11,292

FY20: 14,844

FY22: 20,981

FY24: 25,451

FY25: 32,369

Dashed verticals mark presidential inaugurations.

A note on the figures. Annual and quarterly numbers don’t mean the same thing.

Annual report

Window: full fiscal year, Oct 1 through Sept 30.
Coverage: intended for every reporting agency; the current FY2025 bulk release contains 117 agency-overall reports.
Detail: received, processed, pending, exemption counts (b1–b9), ten oldest, personnel, costs.
“Pending” means: every request still open at year-end, regardless of age.
Freshness: six to nine months after fiscal year end. Latest published is FY2025.

Quarterly report

Window: three months. The latest quarter is shown in the sitewide freshness banner.
Coverage: larger agencies only. About 95 filed before the Trump 2 reporting cliff. DHS filed through FY2025 Q3, then stopped.
Detail: received, processed, backlogged. Three numbers only.
“Backlogged” means:perfected requests open more than 20 working days. Stricter than annual “pending.”
Freshness: usually about six weeks after quarter end.

Why we keep them on separate views.The two “pending” counts use different denominators, so plotting them on a single continuous timeline would misrepresent the underlying change. Within each series, comparisons are clean — quarter-over-quarter, year-over-year. Across series, only the direction of change is comparable, not the magnitude.

Recent quarterly activity

Last 21 quarters of received, processed, and backlog. Most recent: FY2026 Q1 (Oct 1 – Dec 31, 2025).

Backlog

32,295

Received per quarter

7,348

Processed per quarter

5,173

10 oldest pending requests, end of FY2025 (Sept 30, 2025)

Agencies report days pending in working days, counted from the day the request was received; the years column converts to calendar years. The longer this list runs, the more litigation-ripe the agency’s backlog.

Rank	Date received	Working days pending	Years pending
#1	2008-02-14	4,412	17.6
#2	2008-03-05	4,399	17.6
#3	2008-04-14	4,371	17.5
#4	2008-09-25	4,256	17.0
#5	2008-10-21	4,239	16.9
#6	2009-02-12	4,162	16.6
#7	2009-02-18	4,159	16.6
#8	2009-02-21	4,156	16.6
#9	2009-02-26	4,153	16.6
#10	2009-03-17	4,140	16.5

Exemption invocations, FY2025 (Oct 1, 2024 – Sept 30, 2025)

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, FY2025 (Oct 1, 2024 – Sept 30, 2025)

Full-time employees

118

Equivalent FTE

77.1

Total FTE

195.1

Annual report history

FY	Received	Processed	Pending end
FY2025	30,297	23,451	32,369
FY2024	22,306	20,775	25,451
FY2023	15,713	12,576	24,119
FY2022	13,864	9,167	20,981
FY2021	10,683	9,505	16,055
FY2020	9,019	7,041	14,844
FY2019	8,589	6,545	13,368
FY2018	8,448	10,928	11,292
FY2017	7,688	21,736	13,804
FY2016	27,961	15,482	24,210
FY2015	24,837	14,002	21,759
FY2014	19,696	18,094	10,974
FY2013	18,753	21,097	9,491
FY2012	18,521	15,343	11,789
FY2011	14,298	26,836	8,715
FY2010	30,206	18,386	21,135
FY2009	10,717	6,024	9,313
FY2008	5,909	5,577	4,629

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