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Finding · Oct 23, 2026

The Federal Register shrank by a quarter: 30,830 documents in 2024, 23,690 in 2025 — and the SEC files more than the EPA

Every Federal Register document since January 2024, counted by agency and day: 30,830 in 2024, 23,690 in 2025 and 21,198 in the first 204 publication days of 2026. Final rules fell from 3,248 to 2,441; the busiest single day was December 30, 2024 with 344 documents. Health and Human Services, the SEC and the Transportation Department lead the count.

Questions this record answers

How many documents does the US government publish in the Federal Register per year?
30,830 in 2024 (123 per publication day), 23,690 in 2025 (96 per day) and 21,198 in 2026 through October 23, each document counted once. The busiest day was December 30, 2024 with 344 documents.
How many final rules were published in the Federal Register in 2025?
2,441 final rules and 1,498 proposed rules in 2025, against 3,248 and 1,769 in 2024; 392 documents were marked significant in 2025.
Which US agency publishes the most Federal Register documents?
In 2025: Health and Human Services with 2,634, the SEC with 2,314, the Transportation Department with 2,225, Commerce with 2,221 and Energy with 1,749.
Which agency issues the most final rules in the Federal Register?
The Transportation Department with 703 final rules in 2025, 553 of them from the FAA; then the EPA with 281, Homeland Security 266 and Commerce 236.
How many Federal Register documents did the EPA publish in 2025?
The EPA published 281 final rules and 242 proposed rules in 2025; its full count by month and every document is on its Federal Register page.

Cite as: FACTANKER, https://factanker.com/record/federal-register-30830-documents-2024-23690-in-2025

Six questions reporters and compliance teams ask about the Federal Register, answered from the Register's own API, one record per agency and publication day since January 2024, each linked to the official document.

1. How many documents does the US government publish in the Federal Register per year?

30,830 in 2024 on 250 publication days (123 a day), 23,690 in 2025 on 247 days (96 a day), and 21,198 in 2026 through October 23 (104 a day), each document counted once. The busiest day in the record was December 30, 2024 with 344 documents; the latest day, October 23, 2026, carried 82. The running count by day is on the Federal Register page.

2. How many final rules and proposed rules were published in 2024 and 2025?

Final rules: 3,248 in 2024, 2,441 in 2025, 2,417 in 2026 so far. Proposed rules: 1,769, 1,498 and 1,477. Notices, the bulk of the Register, fell from 25,506 to 19,280. Documents marked significant: 551 in 2024, 392 in 2025, 318 in 2026 so far.

3. Which US agency publishes the most Federal Register documents?

In 2025: Health and Human Services (2,634), the Securities and Exchange Commission (2,314), the Transportation Department (2,225), Commerce (2,221) and Energy (1,749). The agency ranking counts a document once per listed agency, as the Register does; the national totals above count each document once.

4. Which agency issues the most final rules, and which proposes the most?

Final rules in 2025: Transportation Department 703 (the FAA alone 553), EPA 281, Homeland Security 266, Commerce 236. Proposed rules: Transportation 503, FAA 371, EPA 242, Labor 91, FCC 79. The SEC's 2,314 documents include only 25 final rules; 2,286 are notices, mostly self-regulatory organisation filings.

5. What is open for public comment right now?

Every agency page lists the proposed rules and notices from the last 120 days whose comment period has not closed, with the closing date and the link to the docket: for example EPA, FAA and SEC.

6. Where do these counts come from, and what do they not say?

From the Federal Register API (Office of the Federal Register, National Archives), all documents since January 1, 2024, by type, agency and publication date, reloaded daily with a seven-day window for late additions. A document listed under two agencies counts for both. Counts are of documents, not pages or regulatory impact; a one-page notice and a 300-page rule each count once. The record starts in 2024, so earlier years are not compared here.

The records behind this article

Documents per day and year, top agenciesHealth and Human Services — the most documents in 2025Transportation Department — the most final rulesEPA — rules, proposed rules, open comment periodsSEC — 2,314 documents in 2025, 25 of them final rulesDecember 30, 2024: 344 documents, the busiest dayOctober 23, 2026: 82 documentsSource record: Federal Register API
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