Foreign Aid Mythology
Polls show that, on average, Americans believe that 28% of the Federal Budget is spent on foreign aid, according to Brookings Institution. Also, on average, Americans believe that the U.S. should spend only 10% of the Federal Budget on foreign aid. Actually, the U.S. spends less than 1% of the Federal Budget on foreign aid.
Foreign aid can also be measured as a percent of GDP. Wealthy countries have committed to spend 0.7% of GDP on foreign aid to poor countries. Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, Denmark and the U.K. regularly exceed that benchmark. On average, wealthy countries spend 0.4% of GDP on foreign aid. The U.S. spends only 0.2% of GDP on foreign aid, ranking near the bottom.
In addition, many Americans fear that foreign aid goes to corrupt governments. Only 21% goes directly to foreign governments. The largest share goes to multinational organizations, including World Health Organization, the World Bank and the World Food Program plus USAID and others.
