Where U.S. Tax Dollars Go Abroad
Published: February 2025
$33.8B in federal spending flows to foreign countries. Here's where your money goes.
The USAID Question
USAID's budget tripled from $15B to $50B between 2017 and 2023 — an extraordinary expansion with limited public scrutiny. Where did the money go? Who was watching? The agency is now facing deep cuts from the DOGE efficiency effort, which argues much of the spending lacked measurable outcomes. The data below covers all federal international spending, not just USAID, but the pattern is clear: billions flow abroad with little transparency for taxpayers.
Top 20 Countries by Federal Spending
All Countries
| # | Country | Code | Amount↓ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan | JPN | $4.1B |
| 2 | Germany | DEU | $3.6B |
| 3 | Canada | CAN | $2.1B |
| 4 | United Kingdom | GBR | $2.1B |
| 5 | Korea, South | KOR | $2.0B |
| 6 | Kuwait | KWT | $1.7B |
| 7 | Qatar | QAT | $1.3B |
| 8 | Iraq | IRQ | $940.8M |
| 9 | Kenya | KEN | $909.0M |
| 10 | Saudi Arabia | SAU | $843.4M |
| 11 | Australia | AUS | $802.6M |
| 12 | Greece | GRC | $773.0M |
| 13 | Ukraine | UKR | $724.8M |
| 14 | Poland | POL | $719.2M |
| 15 | Norway | NOR | $644.4M |
| 16 | Jordan | JOR | $624.1M |
| 17 | Israel | ISR | $543.4M |
| 18 | Djibouti | DJI | $539.7M |
| 19 | Spain | ESP | $484.1M |
| 20 | Switzerland | CHE | $416.7M |
| 21 | Sweden | SWE | $407.8M |
| 22 | Italy | ITA | $391.8M |
| 23 | United Arab Emirates | ARE | $388.3M |
| 24 | Haiti | HTI | $362.0M |
| 25 | Belgium | BEL | $357.6M |
| 26 | South Africa | ZAF | $340.3M |
| 27 | Antarctica | ATA | $336.7M |
| 28 | Bahrain | BHR | $327.7M |
| 29 | Philippines | PHL | $319.5M |
| 30 | France | FRA | $291.1M |
| 31 | Ethiopia | ETH | $285.6M |
| 32 | Cuba | CUB | $282.0M |
| 33 | Egypt | EGY | $264.0M |
| 34 | Tanzania | TZA | $263.7M |
| 35 | Denmark | DNK | $259.9M |
| 36 | Diego Garcia | DGA | $258.0M |
| 37 | Uganda | UGA | $257.5M |
| 38 | British Indian Ocean Territory | IOT | $249.8M |
| 39 | Thailand | THA | $245.8M |
| 40 | Zambia | ZMB | $212.9M |
| 41 | Colombia | COL | $208.5M |
| 42 | Lebanon | LBN | $203.0M |
| 43 | Benin | BEN | $201.5M |
| 44 | Mozambique | MOZ | $194.6M |
| 45 | Vietnam | VNM | $192.0M |
| 46 | Argentina | ARG | $186.0M |
| 47 | Singapore | SGP | $183.4M |
| 48 | Turkey | TUR | $180.3M |
| 49 | Nigeria | NGA | $179.2M |
Showing 49 of 49 results
USAID Deep Dive
See the 100 largest USAID grants and contracts — and the budget explosion from $15B to $50B.