Foreign aidSub-Saharan AfricaFiscal year 2025
US foreign aid to Sierra Leone
The US gave Sierra Leone $88.8 million in foreign aid in FY2025: $10.07 per person, 48th of 173 recipient countries.In fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025), US government agencies obligated $88.8 million in foreign assistance for Sierra Leone and disbursed $56.3 million, according to ForeignAssistance.gov.
Sierra Leone ranks 48th of 173 recipient countries
US foreign aid obligated in FY2025, every recipient country, highest to lowest.
What the numbers show
FY2025 obligations were down 16.2% from $105.9 million in FY2024, and compare with an average of $77.6 million a year over FY2015–FY2024. The highest year since FY2015 was FY2015, at $210.7 million. In total, $864.5 million was obligated over FY2015–FY2025.
The agency that managed the most aid for Sierra Leone in FY2025 was the Department of State ($48.1 million, 54.1% of the total). By sector, the largest was Health ($83.0 million, 93.4%). That sector includes: HIV/AIDS; Maternal and Child Health; Pandemic Influenza and Other Emerging Threats (PIOET); Malaria. ForeignAssistance.gov classified $939,905 (1.1%) as military assistance and the rest as economic assistance.
For FY2026, $812,188 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 Sierra Leone itself; regional and worldwide programs that also benefit it are counted separately (see the Sub-Saharan Africa page).
US aid to Sierra Leone by year
Sierra Leone: $89M in FY2025, against a peak of $211M in FY2015
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 | $190.3M | $3.1M | $591,011 | $16.7M | $210.7M | $83.2M | $29.93 | 36 |
| FY2016 | $23.4M | $5.1M | $1.1M | $74.6M | $104.1M | $162.1M | $14.45 | 49 |
| FY2017 | $32.6M | $1.7M | $3.1M | $26.0M | $63.5M | $76.1M | $8.60 | 68 |
| FY2018 | $29.5M | $4.7M | $3.7M | $32.5M | $70.3M | $70.8M | $9.31 | 65 |
| FY2019 | $20.2M | $3.2M | $4.0M | $5.0M | $32.4M | $62.3M | $4.18 | 96 |
| FY2020 | $29.8M | $3.4M | $3.2M | $5.4M | $41.9M | $52.2M | $5.29 | 89 |
| FY2021 | $26.2M | $2.1M | $434,805 | $5.3M | $34.1M | $62.6M | $4.21 | 93 |
| FY2022 | $36.2M | $4.7M | $825,453 | $26.7M | $68.4M | $46.1M | $8.27 | 85 |
| FY2023 | $30.1M | $2.9M | $651,452 | $10.8M | $44.4M | $71.5M | $5.25 | 90 |
| FY2024 | $53.3M | -$140,180 | $658,740 | $52.1M | $105.9M | $61.8M | $12.26 | 68 |
| FY2025 | $21.7M | $48.1M | $742,611 | $18.3M | $88.8M | $56.3M | $10.07 | 48 |
| FY2026* | -$332,596 | $0 | $24,892 | $1.1M | $812,188 | $17.9M | $0.09 | 75 |
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 | $48.1 million | 54.1% |
| U.S. Agency for International Development | $21.7 million | 24.4% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $15.7 million | 17.7% |
| Peace Corps | $1.8 million | 2.1% |
| Department of Defense | $742,611 | 0.8% |
| Millennium Challenge Corporation | $544,508 | 0.6% |
| Department of the Treasury | $252,297 | 0.3% |
By sector
| Sector | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Health | $83.0 million | 93.4% |
| Program Support | $3.5 million | 3.9% |
| Education and Social Services | $957,184 | 1.1% |
| Economic Development | $891,675 | 1.0% |
| Peace and Security | $364,016 | 0.4% |
| Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance | $139,701 | 0.2% |
Largest program areas
| Program area | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Malaria | $33.1 million | 37.3% |
| Maternal and Child Health | $20.5 million | 23.1% |
| HIV/AIDS | $16.2 million | 18.2% |
| Pandemic Influenza and Other Emerging Threats (PIOET) | $10.8 million | 12.1% |
| Direct Administrative Costs | $3.5 million | 3.9% |
| Family Planning and Reproductive Health | $1.3 million | 1.4% |
| Infrastructure | $1.3 million | 1.4% |
| Policies, Regulations, and Systems | $1.1 million | 1.3% |
| Health - General | $1.1 million | 1.2% |
| Good Governance | $699,816 | 0.8% |
Sectors over the last five years
| Sector | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health | $25.1M | $49.3M | $24.1M | $55.1M | $83.0M |
| Program Support | $4.3M | $8.8M | $4.5M | $22.9M | $3.5M |
| Economic Development | $833,560 | $5.6M | $6.3M | $24.1M | $891,675 |
| Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance | $2.0M | $1.4M | $5.3M | $2.1M | $139,701 |
| Education and Social Services | $1.7M | $2.1M | $1.3M | $1.3M | $957,184 |
| Peace and Security | $281,882 | $778,600 | $2.5M | $400,000 | $364,016 |
| Environment | $73,970 | $1.1M | $415,952 | $82,720 | $0 |
| Humanitarian Assistance | -$118,360 | -$671,178 | $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 | $41.3 million | 46.5% |
| Enterprises | $21.2 million | 23.9% |
| Universities and Research Institutes | $15.1 million | 17.0% |
| Government | $10.3 million | 11.6% |
| Multilateral | $1.0 million | 1.1% |
How Sierra Leone compares
Countries with similar US aid totals in FY2025
US foreign aid obligated, FY2025.
| Georgia | $99.8 million |
| Niger | $97.0 million |
| Sierra Leone (this page) | $88.8 million |
| Palau | $86.9 million |
| Burundi | $82.9 million |
Other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Ethiopia$852M
- Nigeria$620M
- Kenya$562M
- Sudan$548M
- Mozambique$503M
- Uganda$455M
- Democratic Republic of the Congo$452M
- Zambia$422M
More on US foreign aid
Questions and answers
- How much foreign aid does the US give Sierra Leone?
- $88.8 million was obligated in fiscal year 2025 and $56.3 million disbursed, according to ForeignAssistance.gov. Over FY2015–FY2025 the total obligated was $864.5 million.
- How much US aid does Sierra Leone get per person?
- About $10.07 per person in FY2025, using the World Bank population estimate of 8,819,794.
- How much USAID funding goes to Sierra Leone?
- USAID managed $21.7 million of the FY2025 total (24.4%). The Department of State managed the most ($48.1 million).
- What is US aid to Sierra Leone spent on?
- In FY2025, by sector: Health $83.0 million (93.4%); Program Support $3.5 million (3.9%); Education and Social Services $957,184 (1.1%); Economic Development $891,675 (1.0%).
- Has US aid to Sierra Leone gone up or down?
- FY2025: $88.8 million; FY2024: $105.9 million (down 16.2%). The peak since FY2015 was FY2015 ($210.7 million).
- Does the US give military aid to Sierra Leone?
- In FY2025, $939,905 (1.1%) of obligations for Sierra Leone was classified as military assistance on ForeignAssistance.gov, and the Department of Defense managed $742,611.
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.