Where does foreign aid go?

By THE DATA TEAM

THE world of foreign aid is much like the Olympics: countries jostle to show their national colours in as many arenas as possible. Among the 41 donor countries that provided data on their generosity in 2014 to the OECD—a club of mostly rich states—Japan leads the table, sending development aid to 141 countries and territories. America, which gave the most money overall, is second, with 132 beneficiaries. Small budgets are not a deterrent for avid aid-givers. Tiny Luxembourg, for example, gave to 74 countries, splitting among them less money than America gave to Burkina Faso alone. The most popular beneficiaries meanwhile were Afghanistan, China, the Palestinian territories and Uganda, each of which received aid from 35 countries.

Perhaps surprisingly, many recipients are themselves hopping on the benevolence bandwagon, usually Luxembourg style. In 2014, Turkey dished out aid to more countries than Britain did; Thailand was ahead of Canada. Data on the largesse of developing countries, however, are often lacking (and therefore missing from our chart). Brazil, India, Indonesia and Mexico—which received aid from more than 20 countries each—are among the many recipient countries that also send aid abroad, according to the OECD. In all likelihood, China would appear near the top of the ranking of donors: in 2010-12 it gave to a whopping 121 countries, according to official sources.