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What decades of foreign aid data reveal

The United States has provided more than $3.75 trillion in foreign aid since the end of World War II. That works out to $49.4 billion annually from 1946 to 2021. The wars between Ukraine and Russia and between Israel and Hamas have cast new light on US aid to other nations. USAFacts has a lot of data on this and tracks aid to dozens of countries from 2012–2021. Here are the major takeaways:    

• At its peak in 1949, US foreign aid reached nearly $100 billion. It was lowest in 1997, at just under $25 billion.

• Since World War II, over a quarter of all US foreign aid has gone to five countries: Israel ($312.5 billion), former South Vietnam ($184.5 billion), Egypt ($183.7 billion), Afghanistan ($158.9 billion), and South Korea ($120.7 billion).

  
  

• The US spent more than $550 billion on foreign aid between 2012 and 2021. The 2021 amount was $50.1 billion, down from $57.3 billion in 2020.

• Sub-Saharan African countries received the largest portion of aid of any region in 2021.

Track US foreign aid over the years and across the globe.

Teen drug use is declining

High school students are trying and using alcohol and certain drugs less than they did a decade ago. This data comes from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey that tracks substance abuse among teens — including how often they seek out treatment.

• In 2021, 22.7% of teenagers reported drinking alcohol at least once in the past 30 days, down from 37.9% for girls and 39.5% for boys in 2011. Marijuana use is also down; 27.9% of high school students reported trying it in 2021, down from 42.5% of boys and 37.2% of girls in 2011.

  
  

• According to the US Surgeon General, e-cigarettes have been the most popular tobacco product among the nation’s youth since 2014. Teen vaping rates peaked in 2019 at 50.1%. By 2021, this had declined to 36.5%.

  
  

• As vaping grew in popularity with teens, cigarette smoking — which peaked in the 1990s — dropped. By 2021, 17.7% of girls and 17.8% of boys reported having ever smoked cigarettes.

  
  

• The number of teens admitted to recovery treatment centers for substance abuse fell from 177,916 admissions in 2011 to 44,290 in 2020.

Get more charts on changing trends in teen drug abuse.

Data behind the news

A wildfire forced thousands of people to evacuate a rural area southeast of Los Angeles last week. Explore wildfire data in this article.

General Motors has reached a tentative deal with the United Auto Workers. Tentative agreements still have to be ratified, but this could mean the end of the autoworkers strike. But how common are labor strikes in the US?

Take the weekly fact quiz and test your data smarts.

One last fact

Seventeen states have passed laws to observe permanent daylight saving time, while Kentucky and Ohio have passed resolutions supporting it. If Congress were to change daylight-saving-time laws, these resolutions could take effect. The Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022, which would move the nation to permanent daylight saving time. The bill has not received a vote in the House of Representatives.