Top 10 Largest Recipients of U.S. Aid

The United States allocates more than $50 billion a year to send abroad in the form of military and economic aid.

Among the top 10 nations, military assistance is generally the largest percentage of the total amount sent, but the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a federal government agency, also distributes millions in civilian aid to nations across the world.

Click through to see the 10 countries that get the most monetary assistance from the United States.

Because of its huge oil reserves, Nigeria is the third richest country in Africa, but ineffective wealth distribution programs have shot most of the nation into poverty. The country, currently in the midst of an Islamic insurgency, receives around $600 million annually and is set to receive $660 million in 2012.

A massive drought in the Horn of Africa put millions of lives in danger, and USAID sent almost $500 million in food and emergency aid to Kenya.

Total aid to Kenya was $687 million last year, which went to combating poverty, encouraging democracy and counter-terrorist efforts.

There is $750 million set aside for Kenya in 2012.

Military aid sent to Mexico has the two-fold effect of increasing security in the country and also in the United States.

With drug trafficking a multi-billion dollar per year industry, the United States has supported Mexico’s crackdown on drug cartels with both money and personnel.

Thanks to the Mérida Initiative, the United States sent $1.6 billion to Mexico between 2007 and 2010 for military purposes and a grand total of $757 million in the final year for security, economic development and health programs.

Foreign aid is a significant contributor to Jordan’s economy. Under President Obama, U.S. aid to Jordan has been bummed from $363 million to $500 million to $850 million since 2009.

Iraq received $1.1 billion in 2010 for reconstruction and security efforts.

As the United States prepares for a total troop withdrawal from the country, that number could go up. Aid requests for fiscal year 2012 were double the 2010 figure.

Still suffering from the consequences of the devastating 2010 earthquake, Haiti received $1.77 billion in U.S. aid the same year and about $1 billion just from USAID in 2011.

Even before the quake, the underdeveloped country was on the top 10 recipient list during the 10 year period from 1998 to 2008.

Egypt received $1.75 billion in aid, about $1.3 billion of which is military aid.

Following the revolution in Egypt last January, the U.S. government sent $100 million to American NGOs in an economic development program that aimed to promote job creation and poverty alleviation, and another $65 million for democracy building initiatives.

Following the raid on 17 NGO offices and the upcoming trial against a number of American workers in Egypt, some members of the U.S. government would like to cut aid in Egypt.

Funding to Pakistan has become controversial in recent years. The country receives $1.6 billion in military aid and another $1 billion in foreign assistance, but some have claimed that the Pakistani government is using that money to fund America’s enemies in the Taliban and Haqqani network and to harbor terrorists such as Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar.

The United States has given Pakistan more than $20 billion since Sept. 11, 2001.

Aid to Israel has increased steadily over the past decade, and the country collected $190 million from USAID in 2011.

Israel is also the number one recipient of military aid, receiving a total of $2.75 billion in 2010. The country has received $17 billion from the U.S. over the past 10 years and a total of nearly $60 billion since 1949. As the United States’ most important ally in the Middle East, America is invested in making Israel’s army a “capable, professional force.”

The war in Afghanistan has cost the United States over $1 trillion, and in the ten-year span since 2001, Afghanistan has received more than $50 billion in foreign assistance.

In an effort to build the country’s economy and to establish security, the U.S. doles out more than $4 billion a year. About half of that is devoted only to training and equipping Afghan troops; another $1.5 billion comes from USAID programs.

The budget request for Afghan aid in 2012 was $3.2 billion.