History of the Federal Judiciary

U.S. Courts of Appeals
Caseload, 1892–2012 ¹

Year (ending)	Commenced	Terminated	Pending
1892²	841	403	438
1893	704	542	431
1894	766	684	510
1895	866	870	510
1896	815	824	501
1897	775	729	547
1898	806	833	521
1899	907	856	572
1900	952	917	607
1901	901	937	571
1902	1,003	907	667
1903	965	1,001	631
1904	1,021	1,009	635^a
1905	1,126	1,036	725
1906	1,235	1,149	811
1907	1,193	1,243	761
1908	1,277	1,209	833
1909	1,283	1,254	873^a
1910	1,448	1,314	1,007
1911	1,245	1,388	864
1912	1,241	1,219	881
1913	1,262	1,319	824
1914	1,380	1,243	961
1915	1,452	1,482	931
1916	1,518	1,459	990
1917	1,447	1,487	950
1918	1,320	1,477	793
1919	1,324	1,338	779
1920	1,308	1,242	845
1921	1,471	1,372	944
1922	1,621	1,587	978
1923	1,704	1,731	951
1924	2,131	1,898	1,184
1925	2,156	2,175	1,165
1926	2,278	2,208	1,235
1927	2,212	2,293	1,154
1928	2,204	2,159	1,199
1929	2,501	2,296	1,404
1930	2,549	2,646	1,307
1931	2,649	2,710	1,246
1932	2,950	2,838	1,358
1933	2,771	2,824	1,305
1934	3,076	2,886	1,612^a
1935	3,514	3,452	1,674
1936	3,521	3,526	1,669
1937	3,231	3,215	1,685
1938	3,218	3,113	1,790
1939	3,318	3,442	1,665
1940	3,446	3,434	1,678
1941	3,213	3,448	1,443
1942	3,228	2,999	1,714
1943	3,093	3,197	1,610
1944	3,072	3,039	1,643
1945	2,730	2,848	1,525
1946	2,627	2,621	1,531
1947	2,615	2,654	1,492
1948	2,758	2,577	1,673
1949	2,989	2,753	1,909
1950	2,830	3,064	1,675
1951	2,982	2,829	1,828
1952	3,079	3,048	1,859
1953	3,226	3,043	1,845
1954	3,481	3,192	2,134
1955	3,695	3,654	2,175
1956	3,588	3,734	2,029
1957	3,701	3,687	2,043
1958	3,694	3,704	2,033
1959	3,754	3,753	2,034
1960	3,899	3,713	2,220
1961	4,204	4,049	2,375
1962	4,823	4,167	3,031
1963	5,437	5,011	3,457
1964	6,023	5,700	3,780
1965	6,766	5,771	4,775
1966	7,183	6,571	5,387
1967	7,903	7,527	5,763
1968	9,116	8,264	6,615
1969	10,248	9,014	7,849
1970	11,662	10,699	8,812
1971	12,788	12,368	9,232
1972	14,535	13,828	9,939
1973	15,629	15,112	10,456
1974	16,436	15,422	11,470
1975	16,658	16,000	12,128
1976	18,408	16,426	14,110
1977	19,118	17,784	15,444
1978	18,918	17,714	16,648
1979	20,219	18,928	17,939
1980	23,200	20,887	20,252
1981	26,362	25,066	21,548
1982	27,946	27,984	21,510
1983	29,630	28,660	22,480
1984	31,490	31,185	22,785
1985	33,360	31,387	24,758
1986	34,292	33,774	25,276
1987	35,176	34,444	26,008
1988	37,524	35,888	27,644
1989	39,734	37,372	30,018^a
1990	40,898	38,520	32,008^a
1991	42,033	41,414	32,627
1991 ³	43,027	41,640	33,428
1992 ⁴	47,013	44,373	35,799^a
1993	50,224	47,790	38,156^a
1994	48,322	49,184	37,269^a
1995	50,072	49,805	37,310^a
1996	51,991	50,413	38,774^a
1997	52,319	51,194	39,846^a
1998	53,805	52,002	41,666^a
1999	54,693	54,088	42,225^a
2000	54,697	56,512	40,261^a
2001	57,464	57,422	39,996^a
2002	57,555	56,586	40,149^a
2003	60,847	56,396	44,690^a
2004	62,762	56,381	51,226^a
2005	68,473	61,975	57,450^a
2006	66,618	67,582	56,178^a
2007	58,410	62,846	51,063^a
2008	61,104	59,096	53,332^a
2009	57,740	60,508	49,885^a
2010	55,992	59,526	45,864^a
2011	55,126	57,357	43,614^a
2012	57,501	57,570	43,545

a: revised total presented in the subsequent year’s report

Notes:
1. Prior to 1935, does not include the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia. Also does not include the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit after its creation in 1982.
2. Statistical year from July 1–June 30.
3. Beginning in 1992, the statistical year was shifted to coincide with the fiscal year, which ended on September 30. The 1992 report included statistics for the 12-month period ending September 30, 1991, which are included here.
4. Statistical year changed to October 1–September 30.

Source:
1891–1902: Annual Report of the Attorney General, Exhibit 1.
1903–1904: Annual Report of the Attorney General, Exhibit 10.
1905–1908: Annual Report of the Attorney General, Exhibit 5.
1909: Annual Report of the Attorney General, Exhibit 11.
1910–1912: Annual Report of the Attorney General, Appendix 4.
1913: Annual Report of the Attorney General, Appendix 1.
1914–1939: Annual Report of the Attorney General, Exhibit 1.
1940–1944: Annual Report of the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table 1.
1945–1991: Annual Report of the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table B-1.
1992–2012: Annual Report of the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table B.