We recently compiled a report on the 25 Countries That Receive the Most Foreign Aid From the US and in this article we will look at the country that receives the most aid from the US.
Overview of US Foreign Aid
Despite popular belief, foreign aid does not encompass money alone. It includes anything and everything a country donates to another country, and can include food, materials, goods, or even technical support. Foreign aid in the United States is primarily run through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a semi-independent agency. According to data from the Council on Foreign Relations, the United States spent an average of $49.5 billion every year between 1946 and 2021.
In addition, estimates by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) showed that the United States topped the list of the DAC countries that gave the highest net official development assistance in 2021, coming up to $48 billion when considered in current USD. It was followed by Germany at $33 billion, and EU institutions at $19 billion. Further data from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget shows that the US government obligated $70.4 billion in total foreign aid in FY2022. This amount translates to around 1% of the country’s total spending, and is consistent with the amount of foreign aid budget obligated in the past two decades. On average, the obligations in the past 20 years have come up to less than 2% of the total federal spending. You can also look at 30 Countries That Receive the Most Aid From ILO for more insights.
Regional Breakdown of US Aid
In FY2022, the country getting the most aid from the United States was Ukraine, and this trend has continued ever since Russia’s invasion of the country. The United States gave $12.4 billion in foreign aid to Ukraine in 2022 alone, with the total amount coming up to around $76.8 billion between 2022 and the present. This amount includes the humanitarian, financial, and military aid given to the country.
Israel was the second biggest receiver of foreign aid by the US, with the United States federal government giving $3.3 billion to Israel in 2022. Israel was followed by Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Yemen at $2.2 billion, $1.4 billion, and $1.4 billion as of the same year, respectively. $16.6 billion were demarcated in obligations to the worldwide programs in the sub-Saharan African region in 2022, while those in the Middle East and North Africa came up to $1.5 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively.
Role of the Private Sector in US Foreign Aid
More than 90% of the financial flows related to US foreign aid to developing countries come from private sources, with less than 10% coming from the government. USAID, the semi-independent agency that regulates a majority of the country’s foreign aid, partners with private organizations all across the globe to draw on their innovations, resources, assets, and expertise. USAID formed more than 1,600 partnerships with private organizations in the past decade, leveraging around $19 billion in private and public funds to support development assistance programs.
For instance, USAID has held a partnership with the Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) since 2005. In its most recent endeavors, the Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) and USAID joined hands for the Nigeria Plastic Solutions Activity (NPSA) in May 2024 with a combined investment of $4 million, funded equally by the two entities. The activity is aimed at regulating plastic waste management in Nigeria by recovering around 49,000 metric tonnes of plastic waste in the country. The investment also aimed at increasing the collection capacity of around 9,500 collectors and 24 aggregators in the country, proving to be a positive step forward in managing Nigeria’s serious plastic waste problem. The program will also create more than 10,000 green jobs in the country to promote clean and safe environmental practices.
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Our Methodology
In order to compile a list of the 25 countries that receive the most foreign aid from the US, we considered data on the total obligations of all agencies in the US to countries across the world as of 2022, since data for 2023 and 2024 has not been completely reported yet. We derived the estimates for total obligations from the Foreign Assistance website by the US government. The 25 countries that receive the most foreign aid from the US are arranged in ascending order of the total foreign aid obligations by the US government as of 2022.
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The Country That Receives the Most Foreign Aid From the US
1. Ukraine
Total Obligations by the US Government as of 2022: $12 billion
Ukraine ranks first on our list of the 25 countries that receive the most foreign aid from the US. The United States government announced foreign aid obligations worth $12 billion to Ukraine in 2022 alone, with similar trends continuing till the present, bringing the total foreign aid to the country around $76.8 billion. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict is the primary cause behind the increasing foreign aid being sent to the country. According to estimates by the Council on Foreign Relations, air strikes and fighting in the country have resulted in more than 30,000 civilian casualties, internally displacing 3.7 million people. In addition, around 6.5 million residents of the country have fled to escape war.
Curious to learn about other countries that receive the most aid from the US? Check out our detailed report on the 25 Countries That Receive the Most Foreign Aid From the US.
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