Parties spent $2B and other outside political committees made up more than $2.1B. | REUTERS FEC: $7B spent on 2012 campaign

The total number of dollars spent on the 2012 election exceeded the number of people on this planet.

About $7 billion was spent by candidates, parties and outside groups on the 2012 election – beating even the unprecedented expected total of $6 billion, according to a review of campaign finance reports by the Federal Election Commission.


( PHOTOS: 2012 mega-donors)

FEC Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub announced the eye-popping figure at the agency’s meeting Thursday.

The FEC estimates that candidates spent about $3.2 billion of the total $7 billion, parties spent another $2 billion and other outside political committees made up more than $2.1 billion. The agency processed 11 million pages of documents filed in calendar year 2012 alone.

“It’s obviously only an estimate,” Weintraub told POLITICO. “It’s really hard to come up with ‘the number.’”

And Weintraub said future elections could see even more spending.

“It’s a lot of money. Every presidential election is the most expensive ever. Elections don’t get cheaper,” she added.

Spending in the first post- Citizens United presidential election exploded as the FEC remained gridlocked on critical issues. Three years after the Supreme Court ruling that changed the campaign finance system, the FEC has yet to change its regulations to address the decision.

The agency also found that despite the proliferation of super PACs, traditional political action committees outspent the new breed. Of the total spending by outside committees, $1.2 billion was spent by traditional PACs and $950 million was spent by super PACs.

Weibtraub said she isn’t concerned with how much is being spent on elections as long as it’s transparent.

“I’m not saying it’s too much money,” she said. “Some might argue it’s not enough. I’ve been trying to work on rules that would enhance transparency, but I haven’t been successful so far.”