There are various views on how to total U.S. spending
on foreign aid and how U.S. transfers compare with those from other major donors. For the United
States, the size of the foreign aid budget is frequently measured in terms of annual appropriations
approved for international assistance programs. In comparing the United States with other
international aid donors, the most common source of information is the Development Assistance
Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). There
are significant scope and methodological differences, however, between U.S. appropriations figures
and those used by the DAC. This report explains those differences and discusses other issues related
to the debate over how much wealthy countries contribute to international development and what
share U.S. resources represent.