Foreign aid obligations

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) defines foreign assistance as support “freely provided by the US government to a foreign government or international organization” without reciprocation. While foreign assistance can be money or commodities, “it also includes the provision of technical assistance, capacity building, training, education, and other services, as well as the direct costs required to implement foreign assistance.” The USAID does not report missile defense funding from the Defense Department as part of its data.

This statistic reflects obligations, rather than disbursements. Obligations are binding agreements that will result in payment either in that year or in the future.