Although foreign aid is a comparatively small portion of the federal budget, it tends to receive outsized scrutiny by the public. Many people think of it as throwing money away. The fact of the matter is, foreign aid is a tool used by most wealthy countries, including our rivals, not only to relieve humanitarian needs, but as a tool of statecraft to promote one’s own national interests. This article will examine the role of foreign aid in U.S. geopolitics in the past and present. And we’ll let you know which countries currently receive the most American aid, and why. 

24/7 Wall St. Insights

• Foreign aid can include military assistance, economic aid, disaster relief, medical programs, food, and more.
• American foreign aid builds goodwill with foreign countries and their people and can create customers for American business, including arms contractors. 
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The First American Foreign Aid Package

One of the first times the United States sent aid to a foreign country was in 1812 when we were at war with the British. Despite the national emergency, Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky arranged an appropriation of $50,000 for disaster relief for Venezuela after its capital was leveled by an earthquake. Venezuela was fighting for independence from Spain at the time. One motivation for the aid package was likely an expectation that each country would recognize the independence and sovereignty of the other. 

The Marshall Plan

The biggest and most successful foreign aid package in U.S. history was the Marshall Plan. The program stabilized postwar Europe by giving countries money to purchase goods from the United States to help them rebuild and recover. It did not include military aid. It lasted from 1948-51 and distributed $12.5 billion. It is widely credited with helping prevent social unrest and the spread of communism in Western Europe.

America’s Top 20

Next are the top 20 foreign aid recipients of the United States in 2024. Note this does not include military aid, but economic and social aid only. This information comes from ForeignAssistance.gov

20. Vietnam

• $200 million
• Main areas: Environment, health, peace and security, education and social services, democracy, human rights, and governance. 
• Vietnam and the United States are developing closer relations as they have a common interest in opposing the increase of Chinese power in the region. 

19. Zimbabwe

• $220 million
• Main areas: Health, democracy, human rights, and governance.
• Zimbabwe botched the privatization of large colonial-era plantations and mismanaged its currency to the point of hyperinflation. It now uses the U.S. dollar as one of its official currencies. 

18. Bangladesh

• $240 million
• Main areas: Health, economic development, democracy, human rights, and governance, environment.
• Chronically impoverished, Bangladesh suffers from frequent natural disasters, particularly flooding during monsoon season and typhoons. 

17. Iraq

• $270 million
• Main areas: Peace and security, democracy, human rights, and governance, environment.
• The United States wants to stabilize Iraq to help contain the regional ambitions of neighboring Iran and to prevent terrorists from using it as a base to attack U.S. allies. 

16. Somalia

• $290 million
• Main areas: Peace and security, democracy, human rights, and g0vernance, economic development.
• Somalia has been in anarchy for decades but the central government is slowly bringing order. Pirates operating in the waters off Somalia are a significant hazard to busy international shipping lanes, so the U.S. would like to stabilize the country as much as possible. 

15. Ethiopia

• $290 million
• Main areas: Health, economic development, democracy, human rights, and governance
• Ethiopia is one of the most heavily populated countries in Africa. It is unstable and is fighting a civil war with its Tigray region, having already lost control of Eritrea. 

14. Malawi

• $310 million
• Main areas: Health, economic development, democracy, human rights, and governance. 
• Malawi is a small country with big problems. U.S. assistance covers programs intended to help the country with many different areas of social services, good government, and creating economic opportunity.

13. Democratic Republic of the Congo

• $350 million
• Main areas: Health, education and social services, economic development.
• The DRC is a vast country with enormous untapped natural resources and the largest surviving rainforest in Africa. It has always been unstable, though, with a central government barely able to keep control of all of its regions. It borders 9 other countries, so it is really a lynchpin of the region.  

12. Colombia

• $440 million 
• Main areas: Peace and security, democracy, human rights, and governance.
• Colombia has made great progress reducing violence and the drug trade in their country, with assistance from the United States. One of Colombia’s greatest steps forward was to make peace with FARC, the largest rebel group in the country. This has made it easier for them to focus on negotiating with and/or combatting the remaining groups. 

11. South Africa

• $450 million
• Main areas: Health, environment.
• South Africa is still in long-term recovery from the apartheid years, which created huge economic inequalities. People in rural areas particularly need assistance with healthcare needs. South Africa does have a strong economy and it is considered one of the rising economic powers of the next century. It has some of the most diverse and unique wildlife on the continent, though, that need to be preserved. 

10. Kenya

• $510 million
• Main areas: Health, economic development
• Kenya is a close friend of the United States in East Africa. It borders Somalia, which has been in chaos for decades and is a terrorist threat for neighboring countries. The U.S. does not want the dysfunction of Somalia to destabilize Kenya as well. 

9. Zambia

• $510 million
• Main areas: Health, economic development
• A southern African country, Zambia particularly needs help with its healthcare system. It also needs development assistance in a way that does not disrupt the natural environment excessively in this biodiverse region. 

8. Tanzania

• $560 million
• Main areas: Health, economic development
• Tanzania is one of the larger countries of East Africa and a stabilizing force in the region. As in many parts of Africa, healthcare is a concern, with HIV/AIDS a significant problem. 

7. Mozambique

• $560 million
• Main areas: Health, economic development
• Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world. It was a former Portuguese colony that went through a Marxist phase before rejoining the world economy. The U.S. does not want its progress to be reversed. 

6. Uganda

• $560 million
• Main areas: Health, economic development, democracy, human rights, and governance.
• Uganda has had persistent security problems and unstable governments. It is in a heavily forested and mountainous area where rebels and terrorists are difficult to root out. A stable government there can help the security situation of several surrounding countries as well. 

5. Nigeria

• $630 million
• Main areas: Health, democracy, human rights, and governance.
• Nigeria is significant as the most heavily populated country in Africa with significant oil reserves. It has potential to become a major economic and military power in the region. 

4. Ukraine

• $770 million
• Main areas: Peace and security, democracy, human rights, and governance, health. 
• Ukraine is in the midst of a desperate battle with Russia to regain control of Crimea and the eastern provinces of the country Russia has occupied. The United States would like to see Ukraine stabilized and perhaps added to NATO to keep Russia far away from other American allies. 

3. Egypt

• $1.4 billion
• Main areas: Peace and security, economic development
• Egypt was the first country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, and the United States has rewarded it ever since with military and economic aid. Egypt controls the Suez Canal, a strategic chokepoint for navigation between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. 

2. Jordan

• $1.5 billion
• Main areas: Economic development, peace and security, health.
• A moderate Arab ally that hosts U.S. troops, Jordan is important because it shares the longest border with Israel of any Arab country. Stability there helps improve the security of America’s closest ally. 

1. Israel

• $3.3 billion
• Main areas: Peace and security.
• Israel is America’s closest ally in the Middle East. The U.S. wants to help provide it with security against terrorist attacks originating from Iran-sponsored organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah. 

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