Foreign aidEast Asia and OceaniaFiscal year 2025
US foreign aid to Laos
The US gave Laos $74.3 million in foreign aid in FY2025: $9.44 per person, 57th of 173 recipient countries.In fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025), US government agencies obligated $74.3 million in foreign assistance for Laos and disbursed $97.1 million, according to ForeignAssistance.gov.
Laos ranks 57th of 173 recipient countries
US foreign aid obligated in FY2025, every recipient country, highest to lowest.
What the numbers show
FY2025 obligations were down 54.4% from $162.9 million in FY2024, and compare with an average of $77.2 million a year over FY2015–FY2024. The highest year since FY2015 was FY2024, at $162.9 million. In total, $846.5 million was obligated over FY2015–FY2025.
The agency that managed the most aid for Laos in FY2025 was the Department of State ($64.8 million, 87.2% of the total). By sector, the largest was Peace and Security ($39.7 million, 53.4%). That sector includes: Stabilization Operations and Security Sector Reform; Counter-Terrorism; Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD); Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation. ForeignAssistance.gov classified $0 (0.0%) as military assistance and the rest as economic assistance.
For FY2026, $1.0 million has been reported so far. Agencies report to ForeignAssistance.gov quarterly and with a lag, so this page uses FY2025 for comparisons. The figures cover aid recorded for Laos itself; regional and worldwide programs that also benefit it are counted separately (see the East Asia and Oceania page).
US aid to Laos by year
Laos: $74M in FY2025, against a peak of $163M in FY2024
Obligations by fiscal year and managing agency, FY2015–FY2026, nominal dollars. FY26* is incomplete. Net de-obligations are drawn as zero.
- Other agencies
- Defense Department
- State Department
- USAID
View every year as a table
| Fiscal year | USAID | State Department | Defense Department | Other agencies | Total obligated | Disbursed | Per person | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | $3.2M | $13.6M | $1.6M | $308,653 | $18.7M | $19.0M | $2.76 | 100 |
| FY2016 | $4.8M | $22.7M | $33,000 | $29.6M | $57.2M | $45.8M | $8.27 | 68 |
| FY2017 | $13.3M | $23.1M | $6.3M | $17.1M | $59.8M | $56.5M | $8.52 | 72 |
| FY2018 | $29.2M | $12.8M | $5.1M | $698,370 | $47.9M | $49.4M | $6.72 | 80 |
| FY2019 | $24.9M | $20.2M | $4.6M | $136,439 | $49.9M | $47.8M | $6.90 | 84 |
| FY2020 | $34.5M | $46.5M | $15.6M | $1.5M | $98.1M | $76.9M | $13.35 | 62 |
| FY2021 | $35.7M | $37.2M | $0 | $25.5M | $98.4M | $76.4M | $13.21 | 57 |
| FY2022 | $32.0M | $87.2M | $0 | $3.7M | $122.8M | $95.7M | $16.25 | 70 |
| FY2023 | $42.2M | $13.0M | $0 | $1.2M | $56.5M | $120.4M | $7.37 | 84 |
| FY2024 | $50.0M | $58.5M | $0 | $54.4M | $162.9M | $138.6M | $20.97 | 59 |
| FY2025 | $8.9M | $64.8M | $0 | $599,290 | $74.3M | $97.1M | $9.44 | 57 |
| FY2026* | -$39,542 | $1.0M | $0 | $0 | $1.0M | $18.4M | $0.13 | 70 |
Source: ForeignAssistance.gov (U.S. Department of State).
Who manages it and what it pays for, FY2025
By managing agency
| Managing agency | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Department of State | $64.8 million | 87.2% |
| U.S. Agency for International Development | $8.9 million | 12.0% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $599,290 | 0.8% |
By sector
| Sector | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Peace and Security | $39.7 million | 53.4% |
| Program Support | $16.6 million | 22.3% |
| Health | $12.6 million | 17.0% |
| Economic Development | $4.2 million | 5.7% |
| Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance | $1.2 million | 1.6% |
Largest program areas
| Program area | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Stabilization Operations and Security Sector Reform | $37.2 million | 50.1% |
| Direct Administrative Costs | $16.4 million | 22.1% |
| Maternal and Child Health | $6.3 million | 8.4% |
| Pandemic Influenza and Other Emerging Threats (PIOET) | $3.9 million | 5.2% |
| Macroeconomic Foundation for Growth | $2.9 million | 3.9% |
| Transnational Crime | $2.4 million | 3.3% |
| Private Sector Competitiveness | $1.4 million | 1.9% |
| HIV/AIDS | $1.4 million | 1.9% |
| Rule of Law and Human Rights | $1.2 million | 1.6% |
| Nutrition | $1.0 million | 1.3% |
Sectors over the last five years
| Sector | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peace and Security | $35.8M | $85.8M | $11.8M | $51.0M | $39.7M |
| Health | $36.6M | $11.6M | $9.7M | $67.5M | $12.6M |
| Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance | $10.7M | $12.0M | $9.2M | $12.5M | $1.2M |
| Program Support | $4.6M | $4.8M | $4.6M | $11.2M | $16.6M |
| Education and Social Services | $7.0M | $2.6M | $11.6M | $11.8M | $0 |
| Economic Development | $2.7M | $5.6M | $7.9M | $7.9M | $4.2M |
| Humanitarian Assistance | $990,000 | $0 | $1.0M | $1.0M | -$33,182 |
| Environment | $119,467 | $470,318 | $635,915 | $0 | $0 |
| Multi-sector | -$11,303 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Who carried out the work, FY2025
Implementing partners by type, as reported to ForeignAssistance.gov. “Government” includes US agencies that carry out programs themselves and partner-country governments.
| Partner type | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| NGO | $35.6 million | 47.9% |
| Enterprises | $31.2 million | 42.0% |
| Multilateral | $4.7 million | 6.4% |
| Government | $2.9 million | 4.0% |
How Laos compares
Countries with similar US aid totals in FY2025
US foreign aid obligated, FY2025.
| Burma (Myanmar) | $79.3 million |
| Cambodia | $76.5 million |
| Laos (this page) | $74.3 million |
| Chad | $73.3 million |
| Mexico | $63.9 million |
Other countries in East Asia and Oceania
- Micronesia, Federated States of$391M
- Marshall Islands$307M
- Taiwan$300M
- Vietnam$233M
- Philippines$131M
- Indonesia$112M
- Palau$87M
- Burma (Myanmar)$79M
More on US foreign aid
Questions and answers
- How much foreign aid does the US give Laos?
- $74.3 million was obligated in fiscal year 2025 and $97.1 million disbursed, according to ForeignAssistance.gov. Over FY2015–FY2025 the total obligated was $846.5 million.
- How much US aid does Laos get per person?
- About $9.44 per person in FY2025, using the World Bank population estimate of 7,873,046.
- How much USAID funding goes to Laos?
- USAID managed $8.9 million of the FY2025 total (12.0%). The Department of State managed the most ($64.8 million).
- What is US aid to Laos spent on?
- In FY2025, by sector: Peace and Security $39.7 million (53.4%); Program Support $16.6 million (22.3%); Health $12.6 million (17.0%); Economic Development $4.2 million (5.7%).
- Has US aid to Laos gone up or down?
- FY2025: $74.3 million; FY2024: $162.9 million (down 54.4%). The peak since FY2015 was FY2024 ($162.9 million).
- Does the US give military aid to Laos?
- In FY2025, $0 (0.0%) of obligations for Laos was classified as military assistance on ForeignAssistance.gov.
Sources and notes
- ForeignAssistance.gov (U.S. Department of State), complete dataset (us_foreign_aid_complete.csv), version of 02 Sep 2026, retrieved 2026-10-06. Obligations and disbursements in current (nominal) US dollars by U.S. fiscal year (October to September), FY2015–FY2026; FY2026 is incomplete. Public domain.
- Population: World Bank, World Development Indicators, SP.POP.TOTL (updated 2026-07-13), CC BY 4.0.
- Per-person figures divide the fiscal-year obligations by the World Bank population for the same calendar year.
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: method and caveats.