Top 10 countries to receive US aid. Number 1 is a shocker!

According to US Agency for International Development (USAID) statistics, the country has provided billions of dollars in economic assistance to 200 countries and regions between 1946 and 2012.

Now, the normal perception is that only the economically weakest countries receive US Aid, but we have a shocker in store for you! Business Insider India has compiled a list of the top 10 nations to receive US aid, a notable 6 out of 10 are Asian nations, 3 are from Europe and a mere 1 from Africa.


1. India: $65.1bn

Indian economic aid was spread over diverse sectors and programmes. This includes child survival and health, development assistance, HIV/AIDS initiatives, migration and refugee assistance, food aid and narcotics control. Some $26 billion of the total aid was provided for various USAID programmes.

2. Israel: $65bn

A bulk of Israel's $65 billon grant was given to its Economic Support Fund and Security Support Assistance. By bulk we mean a hefty $56.5bn alone attributed to these programmes.

3. United Kingdom: $63.6bn

UK continues to be a strategic partner for the US. The sizeable amount is proof enogh of strong diplomatic and strategic alliance between the two nations.

4. Egypt: $59.6bn

Egypt has received United States aid since 1979 and was the third largest recipient after the Iraq war. The country’s economy depends heavily on tourism, remittances from Egyptians working abroad and revenues from the Suez Canal.

5. Pakistan: $44.4bn

After decades of social and economic instability, Pakistan faces serious deficiencies in macromanagement and unbalanced macroeconomics in basic services and infrastructure. Its inflation reached a whopping 25.0% in 2008 as the country had to depend on a fiscal policy backed by the International Monetary Fund to avoid bankruptcy. However, the country has developed to become one of the world's largest economies in the 21st century.

6. Vietnam: $41bn

(Image credit: Worldbank)
In 2012, HSBC forcasted that Vietnam's total GDP would surpass that of Norway, Singapore and even Portugal by 2050.

However, Vietnam’s problem remains the deep poverty as a high percentage of the population lives on less than $1 per day. However, the relative poverty rate is now less than that of China, India, and the Philippines.

7. Iraq: $39.7bn

Being severely dependant on the oil sector that has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings, the lack of development in other sectors has resulted in unemployment in Iraq.

According to the Overseas Development Institute, international NGOs actually face challenges in carrying out their mission.

8. South Korea: $36.5bn

South Korea suffers in the stock market because of the belligerence of North Korea in times of deep military crises. This affects South Korean financial markets.

However, South Korea was one of the few developed countries that were able to avoid a recession during the global financial crisis.

9. Germany: $33.3bn

Germany boasts of a healthy economy with a highly skilled labor force, large capital stock, a low level of corruption, and a high level of innovation.

Also out of the world's 500 largest stock-market-listed companies measured by revenue in 2014, the Fortune Global 500, 28 are headquartered in Germany.

10. France: $31bn

France is ranked as the world's seventh largest economy and the EU's second largest by purchasing power parity. Home to 39 of the 500 biggest companies in the world in 2010, France ranked fourth in the Fortune Global 500, ahead of Germany and the UK.

(Image credit: Indiatimes)