OTTAWA -- The federal New Democrats ended last year by going deeper into the red.

The party's annual return posted to the Elections Canada website shows the party finished 2018 with nearly $4.5 million in negative net assets.

That makes the third year in the row the party has filed an annual financial return showing a balance sheet where total assets were less than overall liabilities.

It is also the worst balance sheet since 2001, which is the earliest year for which the reports are available online.

The return also shows the NDP spent about $1.4 million more than it had coming in last year.

Meanwhile, donations and contributions were up a little, with the NDP receiving about $5.2 million in 2018, compared to $5.1 million the year before.