The US government spent about $52.6 billion US Dollars (USD) on intelligence in 2013, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) accounted for more than one-fourth of that. The CIA is responsible for collecting and analyzing information for the US government to use when making national security decision. The CIA’s budget increased about 56% from 2004 to 2013, to about $14.7 billion USD. The National Security Agency (NSA), which is responsible for safeguarding government information, has the second-largest budget, at $10.8 billion USD in 2013 — an increase of more than 50% since 2004.
More about US intelligence spending:
- It costs the CIA more than $60 million USD each year to maintain the covert identities of undercover agents.
- The US Justice Department has the smallest budget of the intelligence agencies, at about $3 billion USD in 2013.
- One-fifth of US intelligence spending, about $10 billion USD in 2013, is on audio and visual satellite systems.