Where does U.S. foreign aid go?
Aid can pay for food, medicine, public services or military equipment. It can go through a charity, a business, an international group or a government.
First, what does “send money” mean?
Approved
Congress allows funding in a spending law. That does not mean every dollar has been paid.
Committed
An obligation is a legal promise to pay. Net obligations subtract canceled or reduced commitments.
Paid
A disbursement is money paid out. It can go to a supplier or relief group, not directly to a foreign government.
A dated snapshot—not today’s total
$99.9 billion
Total U.S. foreign aid obligations in fiscal year 2023, according to the August 2025 CRS report.
About 175
Countries and territories received aid in that year. The ten below accounted for about 62% of obligations.
2023 ≠ 2026
The table preserves one published snapshot. Later wars, policy changes and data revisions can change the ranking.
Which countries received the most?
Ten largest recipients in FY2023. Amounts are net obligations, not cash payments. Benefits describe the later sources linked in each row; they are not a 2023 benefits survey. Purpose notes give examples, not a full breakdown of each total.
On a small screen, scroll sideways to see every column.
| Country | Aid amount | Why the U.S. provides aid: examples | Free medical care? | Tuition-free college? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ukraine | $48,587million | Defense against Russia’s invasion, public services and emergency relief. Source | Some costs covered Public programs cover listed care. Patients still pay for many medicines and other care. Source | Yes—some places Citizens compete for publicly funded college places. Other places charge tuition. Source |
| Israel | $3,309million | Military support for a U.S. security partner. Source | Some costs covered Residents have national health insurance. Insurance payments and charges for some services still apply. Source | No—tuition charged Public universities charge tuition. Student aid can reduce what some students pay. Source |
| Jordan | $1,687million | Economic and military support for stability and a long-term partnership. Source | Some costs covered Public insurance and fee exemptions cover some people. Coverage and patient charges differ. Source | No—tuition charged Public universities charge tuition; scholarships and support programs are separate. Source |
| Egypt | $1,539million | Security cooperation and support for regional peace and economic stability. Source | Some costs covered Public insurance is expanding in stages. It is not free care for everyone nationwide. Source | Yes—with limits State university education is guaranteed free, but fees and tuition for some programs still apply. Source |
| Ethiopia | $1,457million | Food, shelter and health aid during conflict and drought; longer-term health support. Source | Some costs covered Community health insurance helps enrolled families pay. It is not a promise of free care for all. Source | No—costs shared Public colleges may charge under a government cost-sharing system. Source |
| Somalia | $1,181million | Emergency food, health and other help during drought and displacement. Source | No—not nationwide Aid supports some services, but access is limited and many families pay directly. Source | No—not guaranteed Free schooling rules do not extend to all higher education. Individual funded places may exist. Source |
| Nigeria | $1,036million | Health, food security, education and other development and emergency programs. Source | No—not nationwide Insurance covers some people, but families pay much of the cost of care themselves. Source | Yes—federal universities Tuition is officially free there. Registration, housing and laboratory fees still apply. State and private schools differ. Source |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | $1,000million | Humanitarian aid for people affected by conflict and displacement, plus other programs. Source | Some costs covered Targeted programs support care, including maternal health. This is not free care for every resident. Source | No—not guaranteed There is no general guarantee of tuition-free public higher education. Source |
| Afghanistan | $887million | Food, health and other emergency aid delivered through relief organizations. Source | Some costs covered Public and aid-supported care can be free, but closures and shortages limit access. Source | Unclear today Older law promised free public college. Women have been barred from universities since 2022; that old promise is not equal access today. Source |
| Kenya | $867million | Includes food, health and other emergency help during the Horn of Africa drought. Source | Yes—primary care only Registered members can receive free primary care under SHA. Broader insurance requires contributions and has rules. Source | No—tuition charged Students use a mix of household payments, loans and scholarships. Source |
Download this comparison (CSV)
Looking for a country outside these ten? The full U.S. aid database lets you choose country, year and obligations or payments. An absent row here does not mean zero aid.
How large is aid compared with the federal budget?
For FY2023, CRS put foreign aid at about 1.5% of total federal budget authority—roughly $1.50 out of every $100 the government was allowed to commit. Budget authority means permission to make spending commitments; it is not the same as cash paid that year.
This gives the amount some scale. It does not tell us whether each program was worthwhile. CRS snapshot and definitions
Does our aid pay for their free college or health care?
This table alone cannot tell us that. A country can receive military aid and separately fund its own health system through taxes. To know what U.S. money paid for, check the grant, contract or program.
Yes, some aid directly helps pay for public health services. For example, GAO reports that a $1.7 billion U.S. contribution through a World Bank fund in July 2022 reimbursed Ukraine for health-worker salaries. It covered salary payments at more than 2,000 health organizations from January through July 2022. That is a specific use of aid—not proof that every medical service or every college place is free.
Other aid pays for food or defense. Aid may also free up a recipient’s own funds for other uses, but the size of that effect cannot be read from these totals.
Why do we give aid—and why do people disagree?
Help people
Supporters point to disaster relief, hunger prevention and disease treatment.
Protect U.S. interests
Supporters also cite security partnerships, fewer global threats and stronger trading partners.
Check the trade-offs
Critics question costs, waste, corruption, harmful uses and whether money would do more good at home.
These are reasons people give, not proof that every project works or fails. Ask: Who benefits? What changed? Was the money tracked? What else could those funds buy? CRS: arguments and oversight
Is an arms sale the same as foreign aid?
No. A foreign country can buy U.S. equipment with its own money. The U.S. can also help finance a purchase through a grant or loan. Those are different arrangements. A large weapons-sale announcement is not automatically a gift from U.S. taxpayers.
U.S. defense agency: buyer-funded sales and U.S.-financed purchases
Who decides?
Congress writes funding laws and can set limits. The president and executive agencies run programs under those laws. Auditors and inspectors general examine spending. A president’s budget request is a proposal; it is not the same as a law or a payment.
How priorities changed over the last 20 years
On a small screen, scroll sideways to see every column.
| Period | What affected aid |
|---|---|
| 2000s | Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; new global HIV/AIDS treatment through PEPFAR; the Millennium Challenge Corporation. |
| Early 2010s | Reduced military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and new federal budget limits affected aid levels. |
| Late 2010s | Ebola, humanitarian crises and strategic competition shaped aid. The first Trump administration proposed cuts; Congress maintained or increased funding. |
| 2021–2024 | The Biden administration emphasized COVID-19, climate and democracy. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine brought large new aid packages. |
| 2025 | The second Trump administration canceled many programs. State took over some USAID functions. OECD’s preliminary data show a sharp fall in U.S. development aid. |
For annual figures from 2005 through 2025, compare U.S. and other donors’ contributions to the World Food Programme. That is one organization, not all foreign aid.
What has changed since this snapshot?
A September 30, 2026 GAO report found that State had taken over USAID’s remaining aid programs. GAO also found gaps in State’s program data, staffing records and written guidance for decisions. State agreed with GAO’s recommendations to improve these areas.
This does not mean all aid was wasted. It means recordkeeping and oversight need improvement. It also helps explain why an older country table should not be treated as today’s funding plan. Read the audit
Sources and dates
The aid amounts come from CRS Figure 2, using ForeignAssistance.gov data updated July 31, 2025. This is a fixed FY2023 snapshot, not a claim that 2023 is the newest data available today. Fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023.
Health and college sources are linked in each row. UNESCO’s education profiles are archived policy summaries; rules and actual access can change. The Afghanistan college label deliberately does not treat a pre-2021 promise as a verified current benefit. The health summary draws on WHO’s history of fee removal and the current health-cluster report.
Do not add the country figures to international-organization figures: the same aid may appear in both views.