Nations contributing to global aid and the corresponding expenditures they make.
In 2024, the world witnessed a significant decrease in international aid, with a real-term drop of 7.1% compared to the previous year, amounting to $212.1 billion. This decline was largely due to a sweeping freeze on foreign aid by US President Donald Trump and cuts from other key donors.
The US, despite being the biggest aid donor overall, contributed $63.3 billion in 2024, accounting for nearly a third of the total. However, the US spent only 0.22% of its Gross National Income (GNI) on aid, significantly less than the 0.7% target set by the United Nations. Only four countries exceeded this target in 2024 - Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden.
The increases in aid were in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, multiple humanitarian crises, refugee flows, and threats of climate change. Yet, the downward trend in aid budgets has raised concerns among aid experts, who believe that these cuts could put millions of lives at risk.
Carsten Staur, head of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), expressed his concern about the trend and emphasised the need to focus on the poorest, most fragile countries. He called for funding to be ringfenced for sub-Saharan Africa, home to two-thirds of the world's 700 million people living in extreme poverty.
The reduction in aid was recorded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which predicts that aid could drop by between 9% and 17% in 2025. If the 17% drop were to materialise, it would represent the biggest drop in global aid on record.
The cuts in aid follow a run of significant aid increases between 2019 and 2023. Notably, Britain announced a cut in its aid budget from 0.5% of GNI to 0.3% in 2027. The reduction is aimed at boosting defense spending. 12 additional DAC countries have signaled they will reduce aid, and Germany, Britain, France, and the Netherlands have announced plans to scale back aid in the coming years.
Amidst these cuts, the UN will shape the future of development aid financing at a major conference in June. The conference aims to discuss strategies to increase aid contributions and ensure that the world's most vulnerable populations continue to receive the support they need.
