The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which receives more FOIA requests than any other federal agency, released its FY 2022 annual FOIA report on March 2nd, a day after the reporting deadline Here are the highlights:

• Received 541,057 requests, a 22.2 percent increase from FY 2021, when it received 442,650 requests.

• Processed 506,032 requests, a 8.2 percent increase from FY 2021, when it processed 467,347 requests.

• Received 7,394 appeals, a 6.7 percent increase from FY 2021, when it received 6,908 appeals

• Processed 7,374 appeals, a 12 percent increase from FY 2021, when it processed 6,579 appeals.

• Backlogged requests were 52,266 at end of FY 2022, compared to 25,102 backlogged requests at the end of FY 2021, a percent increase.

• Backlogged appeals were 413 at end of FY 2022, compared to 436 backlogged appeals at the end of FY 2021, a 5.2 percent decrease.

• For processed perfected requests, the overall department response time was an average of 11 days for “simple” requests and 83 days for “complex” requests.

• Processing costs were $ 75.2 million and litigation costs were $2.5 million, whereas in FY 2021 the department incurred $70.8 million in processing costs and $2 million in litigation costs.

• Fees collected for processing requests totalled $14,913.