How much is the fed printing per month
Executive summary
The Federal Reserve's calendar-year (CY) 2026 print order directs the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) to produce between 3.8 billion and 5.1 billion Federal Reserve notes for the year, a range the Board values at about $108.9 billion to $139.6 billion [1] [2]. Translating that annual order into a monthly pace implies roughly 317 million to 425 million notes per month, or about $9.1 billion to $11.6 billion in face value of notes monthly — acknowledging the Board and BEP may alter month-to-month production to match demand [1] [2].
1. What the official print order says and what "per month" means
The Board of Governors approved and submitted a CY2026 print order that spans 3.8–5.1 billion notes, and explicitly gives an estimated value range of $108.9 billion–$139.6 billion for those notes; those are the published planning figures used to schedule BEP production [2] [1]. Dividing that annual range by 12 yields the approximate monthly printing pace: 3.8 billion/12 ≈ 316.7 million notes and 5.1 billion/12 ≈ 425 million notes, with corresponding monthly face‑value amounts of roughly $108.9B/12 ≈ $9.1B and $139.6B/12 ≈ $11.6B — a useful operational approximation, not a fixed production quota [1] [2].
2. Why the Fed prints physical notes: demand, inventories and unfit destruction
The Board frames the print order as an estimate of net demand for currency from domestic and international customers, influenced by inventory volumes at Fed banks, destruction rates of unfit notes, and payment trends — not as a monetary policy lever to “create” broad money balances [2] [3]. Currency in circulation has been rising year‑over‑year, albeit at a slower pace than pre‑pandemic levels, which factors into the reduced CY2026 range versus prior years [1] [3].
3. The operational caveat: monthly production is adjustable
The Board and BEP note that staff may adjust production of each denomination during the year to match actual demand and BEP capacity; the CY print order is therefore a scheduling range rather than a rigid monthly print figure [2]. The BEP’s own planning documents and budget materials show the 2026 annual print order was expected to decrease slightly from 2025 production volumes, signaling deliberate capacity and inventory management [4].
4. Distinguishing "printing" notes from expanding the monetary base
Public discourse often conflates physical note printing with the Fed “printing money” in the monetary‑policy sense; critics point to the Fed’s balance‑sheet expansions during crisis periods when deposits and securities holdings grew dramatically, which is a separate phenomenon from BEP banknote production [5] [6]. Official print orders measure physical note production; changes in the Fed’s balance sheet or money‑supply aggregates reflect open‑market operations, lending facilities and reserve accounting — elements not captured by the BEP print‑order numbers alone [6] [5].
5. Context and limits of available reporting
Published Federal Reserve materials and the BEP budget provide the official annual ranges and the rationale for them, and historical data series exist for currency‑in‑circulation and notes printed [2] [7] [8]. However, publicly available documents do not give a rigid, guaranteed monthly production schedule nor real‑time adjustments that may occur intra‑year, so the monthly figures above are arithmetic conversions of the annual range and should be read as approximate operational pacing rather than minute‑by‑minute facts [2] [4].
6. Bottom line
Based on the Fed’s published CY2026 print order, the Fed is planning for about 3.8–5.1 billion notes for the year — approximately 317–425 million notes per month — equivalent to roughly $9.1–$11.6 billion in face value monthly; those estimates are operational ranges that the Board and BEP will fine‑tune during the year to meet actual demand and production realities [1] [2] [4].