U.S. Foreign Aid

Americans Say...

61% say that combating world hunger
should be a very important goal of U.S.
foreign policy.
78% favor helping poor countries develop
their economies as a way to fight
terrorism.

(World Views )

Bros Before Poors

Less than half of aid from the United States goes to the
poorest countries where people earn less than $2 a day.
The largest recipients are strategic allies such as Egypt,
Israel, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Israel is the richest country to receive U.S. assistance ($77
per Israeli compared to $3 per person in poor countries).

(Center for Global Development)

Incredible Potential for Good

The U.S. was the largest single
donor in a global campaign that
eradicated smallpox from the
world by 1977.
The U.S. provided funding for a
program to prevent river blindness
in West Africa. As a result of
these efforts, 18 million children
now living in the program's region
are free from the risk of river
blindness.

(Center for Global Development)

$4.4 billion: The cost of two B-2
Bombers.

$3.2 billion: The annual budget for the
World Food Program (largest relief
agency in the world) to assist 104
million starving and malnourished
people in 81 countries.

People Power by the Numbers
2,700: Number of employees working for the
largest relief agency in the world (WFP), funded
by 191 nations.

120,000: Number of employees working for
Northrup Grumman, a leading defense
contractor primarily funded by the U.S.

Did you know... In 2002, the U.S.
Government formed the Millennium Challenge
Account which requires countries address
corruption before they can receive aid from
the United States.(Learn more)

Global Effort
A wide range of developing country
donors are increasing their aid to poor
countries—and these amounts are
expected to rise. Aid from countries like
Korea, Mexico, and Turkey is likely to
double by 2010 to over $2 billion.
Countries like Brazil, China, India, the
Russian Federation, and South Africa
are becoming important aid providers—
China was the third-largest food aid
donor in the world in 2005 and is fast
becoming the leading foreign creditor to
Africa.

Listen to the Money Talk
$73 - Amount per American the
U.S. spends on aid.

$1,763 - Amount per American
the U.S. spends on defense.
(Guardian)

The Largest Donors in 2007 (by volume):
1. United States
2. Germany
3. France
4. United Kingdom
5. Japan
(OECD)

U.S. Foreign Aid
The U.S. provides large amounts of military aid to countries
deemed strategically important, but the U.S. ranks low
among developed nations in the amount of foreign aid it
provides to poor countries.

How much foreign aid does the U.S. give?
$22 billion in 2007. (OEC D)

How does that compare to other foreign policy priorities?

$27 billion: Amount going to the largest military contractor.
$306 billion: Amount going to military contracts.
$550 billion: U.S. Defense Budget. (Govexec)

How does the U.S. compare to other wealthy nations?
Not very good. In volume given, the U.S. government does better
than other nations, but when factoring potential to give, the U.S. is
ranked second to last among wealthy nations (see chart below).

Source: Oxfam