Foreign aidSub-Saharan AfricaFiscal year 2025
US foreign aid to South Africa
The US gave South Africa $261.6 million in foreign aid in FY2025: $4.04 per person, 24th of 173 recipient countries.In fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025), US government agencies obligated $261.6 million in foreign assistance for South Africa and disbursed $399.1 million, according to ForeignAssistance.gov.
South Africa ranks 24th of 173 recipient countries
US foreign aid obligated in FY2025, every recipient country, highest to lowest.
What the numbers show
FY2025 obligations were down 55.0% from $581.3 million in FY2024, and compare with an average of $586.0 million a year over FY2015–FY2024. The highest year since FY2015 was FY2020, at $1.1 billion. In total, $6.1 billion was obligated over FY2015–FY2025.
The agency that managed the most aid for South Africa in FY2025 was the U.S. Agency for International Development ($139.6 million, 53.4% of the total). By sector, the largest was Health ($237.8 million, 90.9%). That sector includes: HIV/AIDS; Maternal and Child Health; Pandemic Influenza and Other Emerging Threats (PIOET); Malaria. ForeignAssistance.gov classified $0 (0.0%) as military assistance and the rest as economic assistance.
For FY2026, $30.2 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 South Africa itself; regional and worldwide programs that also benefit it are counted separately (see the Sub-Saharan Africa page).
US aid to South Africa by year
South Africa: $262M in FY2025, against a peak of $1.1B in FY2020
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 | $257.5M | $9.7M | $2.8M | $84.1M | $354.2M | $358.3M | $6.24 | 21 |
| FY2016 | $312.5M | $5.1M | $4.2M | $275.3M | $597.1M | $488.9M | $10.43 | 15 |
| FY2017 | $349.7M | $9.3M | $4.4M | $149.7M | $513.1M | $599.7M | $8.90 | 20 |
| FY2018 | $386.2M | $10.7M | $4.6M | $151.7M | $553.2M | $611.8M | $9.44 | 19 |
| FY2019 | $271.1M | $4.7M | $1.7M | $347.1M | $624.7M | $675.3M | $10.48 | 19 |
| FY2020 | $627.1M | $3.3M | $13.6M | $471.6M | $1.1B | $702.4M | $18.42 | 8 |
| FY2021 | $226.8M | $7.4M | -$83,796 | $162.0M | $396.1M | $676.1M | $6.44 | 22 |
| FY2022 | $412.9M | $7.8M | $0 | $263.1M | $683.7M | $612.2M | $10.96 | 18 |
| FY2023 | $273.4M | $8.1M | $167,025 | $159.7M | $441.3M | $547.2M | $6.98 | 24 |
| FY2024 | $318.2M | $5.7M | -$4,298 | $257.4M | $581.3M | $508.4M | $9.08 | 24 |
| FY2025 | $139.6M | $10.6M | $0 | $111.4M | $261.6M | $399.1M | $4.04 | 24 |
| FY2026* | -$1.6M | $30.9M | $0 | $873,756 | $30.2M | $33.5M | $0.47 | 20 |
Source: ForeignAssistance.gov (U.S. Department of State).
Who manages it and what it pays for, FY2025
By managing agency
| Managing agency | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Agency for International Development | $139.6 million | 53.4% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $107.5 million | 41.1% |
| Department of State | $10.6 million | 4.0% |
| Peace Corps | $3.8 million | 1.4% |
| Department of Energy | $183,965 | 0.1% |
| Department of Transportation | $150 | 0.0% |
By sector
| Sector | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Health | $237.8 million | 90.9% |
| Program Support | $23.5 million | 9.0% |
| Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance | $525,000 | 0.2% |
| Economic Development | $358,973 | 0.1% |
| Education and Social Services | $29,915 | 0.0% |
Largest program areas
| Program area | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| HIV/AIDS | $214.1 million | 81.8% |
| Direct Administrative Costs | $23.5 million | 9.0% |
| Health - General | $16.2 million | 6.2% |
| Tuberculosis | $7.5 million | 2.9% |
| Policies, Regulations, and Systems | $2.7 million | 1.0% |
| Rule of Law and Human Rights | $525,000 | 0.2% |
| Environment - General | $184,476 | 0.1% |
| Trade and Investment | $178,000 | 0.1% |
| Macroeconomic Foundation for Growth | $174,858 | 0.1% |
| Infrastructure | $6,115 | 0.0% |
Sectors over the last five years
| Sector | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health | $331.4M | $628.1M | $365.1M | $516.9M | $237.8M |
| Program Support | $30.1M | $29.5M | $36.1M | $34.3M | $23.5M |
| Economic Development | $14.9M | $9.1M | $18.6M | $17.9M | $358,973 |
| Education and Social Services | $9.6M | $4.1M | $6.5M | $3.3M | $29,915 |
| Humanitarian Assistance | $4.0M | $4.0M | $7.1M | $1.4M | -$168,757 |
| Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance | $2.8M | $3.3M | $3.1M | $3.5M | $525,000 |
| Peace and Security | $2.3M | $4.5M | $4.2M | $1.5M | -$3,737 |
| Environment | $1.1M | $952,466 | $629,755 | $2.4M | -$483,649 |
| Multi-sector | $0 | $127,357 | -$2,500 | $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 | $120.7 million | 46.1% |
| Universities and Research Institutes | $63.8 million | 24.4% |
| Government | $54.4 million | 20.8% |
| Enterprises | $13.3 million | 5.1% |
| Multilateral | $6.6 million | 2.5% |
| Networks | $3.1 million | 1.2% |
How South Africa compares
Countries with similar US aid totals in FY2025
US foreign aid obligated, FY2025.
| Malawi | $277.5 million |
| South Sudan | $274.0 million |
| South Africa (this page) | $261.6 million |
| Vietnam | $232.8 million |
| Egypt | $223.4 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 South Africa?
- $261.6 million was obligated in fiscal year 2025 and $399.1 million disbursed, according to ForeignAssistance.gov. Over FY2015–FY2025 the total obligated was $6.1 billion.
- How much US aid does South Africa get per person?
- About $4.04 per person in FY2025, using the World Bank population estimate of 64,747,319.
- How much USAID funding goes to South Africa?
- USAID managed $139.6 million of the FY2025 total (53.4%), more than any other agency.
- What is US aid to South Africa spent on?
- In FY2025, by sector: Health $237.8 million (90.9%); Program Support $23.5 million (9.0%); Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance $525,000 (0.2%); Economic Development $358,973 (0.1%).
- Has US aid to South Africa gone up or down?
- FY2025: $261.6 million; FY2024: $581.3 million (down 55.0%). The peak since FY2015 was FY2020 ($1.1 billion).
- Does the US give military aid to South Africa?
- In FY2025, $0 (0.0%) of obligations for South Africa 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.