The United Nations recommends that developed countries spend at least 0.7 percent of their GDP on ODA. According to the OECD, this is the “best-known aim in international aid.” However, as shown in the graph above, only a few countries have achieved it.
What percentage of GDP is spent on international aid?
“Aid given by the United States to other countries to support global peace, security, and development activities, as well as offer humanitarian help during times of disaster,” according to US foreign aid (also known as US foreign assistance or Function 150). According to the Congressional Research Service, 42 percent of funds were spent on long-term development, 33 percent on military and security aid, 14 percent on humanitarian help, and 11 percent on political aid in fiscal year 2016. Although the number of agencies and departments in charge of managing and implementing foreign aid funding and programs can fluctuate over time, “over 20 US government agencies handle foreign assistance programs” in recent years. A specialist organization, the United States Agency for International Development, receives nearly half of the government’s economic aid (USAID).
Developing countries, countries of strategic importance to the US, and countries recovering from conflict are among the recipients of foreign aid. Policymakers consider foreign aid as a tool to encourage global economic development, which in turn benefits U.S. national security, according to the think tank Council on Foreign Relations. Foreign aid is critical to preventing conflict, which reduces military deployments and losses, according to a 2017 letter to Congress written by retired US admirals and generals.
Following World War II, government-sponsored international aid became more systematic. The Marshall Plan of 1948 and the Mutual Security Act of 195161 were two of the most important programs. Following the 9/11 attacks, aid levels soared. More than 200 countries and areas will receive funding in fiscal year 2020. Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Ethiopia were the top five recipients of more than $1 billion in aid that year. Military aid makes up the majority of aid to these countries.
Foreign aid in the United States is funded by US taxpayers and other government revenue sources that Congress appropriates each year through the US budget process. Money from private nonprofit organizations established in the United States, as well as remittances exchanged between family members, are excluded. Foreign aid reached $51 billion in fiscal year 2020, accounting for less than 1% of the government budget. The United States spends the most on international help of any country in terms of raw dollars; but, when measured as a percentage of GDP, US foreign aid spending is towards the bottom among wealthy countries. Germany is the next greatest spender on foreign aid.
While foreign aid receives bipartisan support in Congress, it is largely unpopular among the general population. According to a Rasmussen study from 2017, 57.69 percent of people want foreign aid slashed, while only 6% want it raised. However, most Americans overestimate foreign aid as a percentage of the entire federal budget; according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll from 2013, the typical American believed that international aid accounted for 28% of the federal budget.
What country contributes the most foreign aid as a percentage of its GDP?
The United States is the leading donor country on the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), with about $35 billion in foreign assistance contributions in 2017.
What country receives the most US foreign aid?
Since World War II, Israel has received the most US foreign aid of any country, totaling $243.9 billion (adjusted for inflation), and has been among the top recipients every year since 1971.
What is the US foreign aid budget?
The President’s budget request for the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 is $58.5 billion, including $27.7 billion for USAID fully and partially managed accounts, which is $2.9 billion (11%) more than the FY 2021 enacted level.
What percentage of its budget is allocated to international aid?
In 2020, France was the fifth-largest Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donor country, spending US$14.1 billion (current prices; US$13.5 billion in constant 2019 prices) on official development assistance, accounting for 0.53 percent of its gross national income (GNI) (ODA). Since 2014, France’s ODA has been rising, with an increase of 11% between 2019 and 2020 (+US$1.3 billion in real terms). Higher levels of bilateral funding and COVID-19-related funding, including lending, drove this growth; France’s sovereign loans climbed by 63 percent between 2019 and 2020. The OECD DAC assessed France’s COVID-19-related funding at US$2.2 billion in 2020. (current prices).
What is Canada’s foreign aid budget?
In total, Canada invested $876 million on bilateral and multilateral humanitarian aid. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada has pledged more than $2 billion in direct assistance to worldwide efforts to combat the disease, including more than $2 million in fiscal year 2019-2020.
Which country will be the largest giver of foreign aid in 2020?
- According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Aid Committee, the United States (US) is the greatest donor, with official development assistance (ODA) of US$35.5 billion in 2020 (current prices; US$35.1 billion in constant 2019 prices) (DAC).
- The United States’ official development assistance (ODA) is low in comparison to its economic size, at 0.17 percent of gross national income (GNI). The United States is ranked 24th out of 29 donor countries in the OECD DAC.
- The total funding level for US foreign assistance for fiscal year (FY) 2021 (October to September) was set at US$57.4 billion. In FY2021, an additional $16.1 billion in emergency assistance was added, largely for COVID-19-related projects.
- The State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) FY2022 appropriations bill was passed by the US House of Representatives, providing US$62.2 billion in funding for US foreign assistance programs, a 12 percent increase over FY2021 enacted levels (US$57.4 billion, excluding emergency COVID-19 funding). The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a 60.65 billion dollar SFOPS measure for fiscal year 2022. In the end, approved levels will most likely pay foreign aid somewhere in the middle. Both the House and the Senate have allocated $2.0 billion to overseas agriculture programs (for the Food for Peace and McGovern-Dole programs). A Continuing Resolution that expires on December 3, 2021 is currently funding US foreign assistance.
Does China receive international assistance?
Since 1949, bilateral and multilateral official development assistance, as well as official aid to individual recipients, have been provided to the People’s Republic of China.
China and Japan reestablished diplomatic ties in 1978. Deng Xiaoping had traveled to Japan to sign a pact and see the country’s progress. As a result, when the amount of foreign currency preparedness reached US$167 million, China opted to borrow US$220 million in soft loans from Japan. China used the funds to invest in social infrastructure.
China got $1.4 billion in foreign aid in 2001, or around $1.10 per person. This was a decrease from the previous year’s total of US$2.4 billion, or US$1.90 per capita. China received $1.3 billion in aid in 2003, or around $1 per person. The United States, like other countries in recent years, has significantly curtailed its help to China, with USAID funding for 2011 totaling around $12 million. Tibetan communities, rule of law projects, and climate change policy are also recipients of the funds. A critical Congressional subcommittee hearing titled “Feeding the Dragon: Reevaluating US Development Assistance to China” was held in 2011 on a $3.95 million aid package intended for climate change.
The United Nations provides some of this help in the form of socioeconomic development assistance (UN). In 2001 and 2002, the PRC received US$112 million in UN assistance, the majority of which came from the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Who provides funding for UK aid?
UK Aid is a challenge fund established by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom to support the UK’s commitment to poverty reduction and achievement of the Global Goals.
Who receives the most aid from the United States?
The United States has set aside $38 billion for overseas aid in 2021. It has disbursed over $32 billion as of this reporting. Country-by-country aid in 2022