Fed Balance Sheet (Total Assets)
The Fed's total assets — Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities accumulated through quantitative easing, plus lending facilities — measure the size of the central bank's footprint, reported weekly in the H.4.1 release. It is the cleanest single read on the liquidity backdrop behind asset prices.
Total assets
- YoY %
- 2.1%
Next release: Sep 24, 2026
Latest reading
As of September 16, 2026, Fed Balance Sheet (Total assets) stands at $6.75T — up from $6.74T the prior reading, 25% below the April 13, 2022 record of $8.97T. A growing balance sheet (QE) adds reserves and has historically been a tailwind for risk assets; a shrinking one (quantitative tightening) drains liquidity. The level went from ~$4T to nearly $9T in 2020–22, and has been declining under QT since. Watch the direction and the year-over-year pace — and the limit QT eventually hits when bank reserves grow scarce and money-market plumbing (repo) shows stress. Series history runs from 2002 to present.
Sources, methodology & freshnessLast updated 2026-09-18 · Open ↓Close ↑
Full history
Total assets
Year-over-year %
The annual change in the balance sheet. Shaded zones split expansion / QE (green, above 0%) from contraction / QT (red, below 0%).
Methodology & data
Fed Balance Sheet is sourced from Fed via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (Federal Reserve H.4.1 via FRED (WALCL), weekly). We pull the complete history, chart it on a weekly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date, last updated 2026-09-18. Maintained and reviewed by Yuriy Matso; see our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
The Manual — Fed balance sheet
The Fed holds $6.75T of assets as of the September 16, 2026 H.4.1 — down 27% from the $8.97T record through the largest quantitative tightening ever run, during which SPY rose 72%. The full owner's guide covers what actually sits on the balance sheet, every QE and QT era computed, and where the “liquidity drives everything” framing breaks.
Read The Fed Balance Sheet Manual →Frequently asked questions
What is the Fed Balance Sheet (Total Assets)?
The Fed's total assets — Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities accumulated through quantitative easing, plus lending facilities — measure the size of the central bank's footprint, reported weekly in the H.4.1 release. It is the cleanest single read on the liquidity backdrop behind asset prices.
How do you read Fed Balance Sheet?
A growing balance sheet (QE) adds reserves and has historically been a tailwind for risk assets; a shrinking one (quantitative tightening) drains liquidity. The level went from ~$4T to nearly $9T in 2020–22, and has been declining under QT since. Watch the direction and the year-over-year pace — and the limit QT eventually hits when bank reserves grow scarce and money-market plumbing (repo) shows stress.
Where does the Fed Balance Sheet data come from?
Federal Reserve H.4.1 via FRED (WALCL), weekly. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/fed-balance-sheet.csv.
How often is Fed Balance Sheet updated?
Fed Balance Sheet is a weekly series from Fed, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.
Total assets
- YoY %
- 2.1%
Next release: Sep 24, 2026