International aid falls 71% amid shifting donor priorities

Onome Amuge

International aid from official donors declined in 2024, marking the first drop after five consecutive years of expansion, according to preliminary data released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 

This is as Official development assistance (ODA) fell by 7.1 per cent in real terms compared to 2023, reflecting a potential shift in global development finance.

The decline in ODA was attributed to some factors, including reduced contributions to international organisations, a decrease in aid allocated to Ukraine, lower levels of humanitarian assistance, and a fall in spending by donor countries on hosting refugees within their borders.

ODA provided by member countries of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) totalled $212.1 billion in 2024, representing 0.33 per cent of DAC members’ combined gross national income (GNI). This figure remains below the United Nations’ target of 0.7 per cent ODA to GNI, a threshold met by only four DAC members: Denmark (0.71 per cent), Luxembourg (1.00 per cent), Norway (1.02 per cent), and Sweden (0.79 per cent).

OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann highlighted the growing pressures on development finance and the growth prospects of developing nations. “Optimising the effectiveness of available official development assistance will help developing countries manage these fiscal pressures, make essential investments in growth, and protect the most vulnerable,” he said.

A major factor in the overall decline was the 16.7 per cent real-terms decrease in net ODA to Ukraine compared to 2023, which amounted to $15.5 billion and represented 7.4 per cent of total net ODA. Humanitarian aid also saw a substantial reduction, falling by an estimated 9.6 per cent to $24.2 billion in 2024.

Furthermore, ODA used by donor countries to cover refugee costs within their own borders fell by 17.3 per cent in 2024 compared to the previous year, amounting to $27.8 billion. This represented 13.1 per cent of DAC members’ total ODA, down from 14.6 per cent in 2023. Notably, for five countries, in-donor refugee costs still accounted for more than a quarter of their ODA in 2024.

The United States remained the largest individual DAC member provider of ODA, contributing $63.3 billion, which constituted 30 per cent of the total DAC ODA in 2024. It was followed by Germany ($32.4 billion), the United Kingdom ($18.0 billion), Japan ($16.8 billion), and France ($15.4 billion).

Carsten Staur, chair of the OECD DAC, expressed concern over the contraction in aid flows. “It is regrettable that ODA decreased in 2024 after five years of continuous growth. It’s even more concerning that some of the major donors have signalled further, and quite significant, decreases over the coming years,” he said.

Staur emphasised the need to prioritise ODA allocation to the poorest and most fragile countries and to enhance aid effectiveness in mobilising other sources of finance. “Going forward, poverty eradication, the just green transition and governance should remain at the core, and we must also make ODA work harder in mobilising other sources of finance. Doubling down on aid effectiveness, together with partner countries, will be the key to achieve this,” he stated.

The OECD data revealed a divergence in donor behaviour, with ODA rising in ten DAC member countries and falling in twenty-two. Net bilateral ODA for programmes, projects, and technical assistance, excluding in-donor refugees and humanitarian aid, experienced a slight real-terms decrease of 1.2 per cent, partly due to the reduction in aid to Ukraine. Net debt relief grants remained at a low level of $241 million.

Preliminary estimates indicate that net bilateral ODA flows from DAC members to Africa totalled $42 billion in 2024, representing a one per cent real-terms fall compared to 2023. Within this, net ODA to sub-Saharan Africa amounted to $36 billion, a decrease of two per cent in real terms. Net bilateral aid flows from DAC members to the group of least developed countries (LDCs) were $35 billion, a real-terms decline of three per cent compared to the previous year.