From 1916 to 1998, the FTC issued annual reports to Congress. The reports review the Commission’s previous fiscal year activity and provide descriptions of cases. In 1999, the FTC began preparing annual performance reports to submit to the Office of Management and Budget. From 1999 to 2001, the FTC’s Performance Report served as the Commission’s Annual Report. The FTC continues to publish a modified version of this report, the Performance and Accountability Report, annually.

In March 2002, the FTC began to publish Chairman’s Annual Reports, which detail the Commission’s achievements during the previous year. In March 2012, the FTC published the first online edition of the Annual Highlights — the FTC's major accomplishments since the previous year including links to enforcement, policy, outreach, media, and more.