Each year, the U.S. sends billions in foreign aid to promote global stability, national security, and its own economic interests.

To see where this money flows, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu visualized the top 10 countries receiving U.S. foreign aid in fiscal year 2022 (FY2022). These numbers represent total disbursements, which are the actual amounts paid in cash or cash equivalents by federal agencies.

All figures were sourced from https://www.foreignassistance.gov, as of May 2024. At the time of writing, full reporting for FY2023 is not yet available.

Data and Highlights

All of the numbers we used to create this graphic are listed in the table below. Note that the U.S. fiscal year begins on Oct. 1 of the previous calendar year and ends on Sept. 30.

Ukraine was the largest recipient of foreign aid, with $11.2 billion disbursed throughout FY2022. This was a massive increase from the $419M sent in FY2021, due to the Russian invasion which began in February 2022.

So far for FY2023 (incomplete reporting), foreign aid sent to Ukraine has reached $16.7 billion.

The second largest recipient is Israel, though unlike Ukraine, the $3.3 billion disbursed in FY2022 is consistent with previous years (around $3.3 billion every year since FY2019).

The vast majority (over 99%) of foreign aid to Israel is dedicated to “Conflict, Peace, and Security”, with disbursements being facilitated by the U.S. Department of Defense.

If you enjoy graphics like these, be sure to check out Charted: How Americans Feel About Federal Government Agencies.