Almost $400B is spent each year on the SDGs — where does it go?

How much is being spent on tackling the Sustainable Development Goals in the global south — and what is it being spent on? Earlier this year, the secretariat supporting the Total Official Support for Sustainable Development task force went some way in answering this when it shared data on spending in 2021. TOSSD has a complicated methodology that looks primarily at international spending which benefits low- and middle-income countries, although there are a number of exceptions and variations, which are outlined in more detail below. Devex looked into the data to see which SDGs, countries, and sectors were prioritized between 2019 and 2021. All figures are in 2021 constant prices. This allows us to compare trends throughout the years taking into account changes in inflation rates. How are SDG-related investments tracked? Not all ODA flows are considered to be aligned to the SDGs, but TOSSD tracks the portion which is. In addition, TOSSD also tracks other flows, where its sustainability test shows they contribute to sustainable development, including things such as “south-south cooperation,” where knowledge and resources are shared among TOSSD recipient countries, and international public goods, such as COVID-19 vaccines or climate change mitigation measures. Resources are classified into two main pillars: • Pillar one includes any funding that goes to one or more identifiable recipient countries. • Pillar two includes funding that contributes to the SDGs where it benefits the whole world or a large part of the world, rather than particular countries. However private sector contributions are tracked separately to avoid inflating official figures. While TOSSD envisions capturing the entirety of resources spent to support the SDGs, only organizations that comply with its methodology are measured. How much money goes to sustainable development? Based on the data, official sources disbursed $325.7 billion in 2019 — $247.8 billion under pillar one and $77.9 billion under pillar two. A further $49.8 billion came from private mobilization. The number of providers reporting to TOSSD and the scope of their reporting increased in 2020. The total gross disbursement tracked also increased, with $394.8 billion from official sources — $307.9 billion under pillar one and $86.9 billion under pillar two. Another $53.7 billion came from private mobilization. In 2021, TOSSD decreased slightly to $393.5 billion — $298.4 billion under pillar one and $95.1 billion under pillar two — while private financing amounted to $41.1 billion. The total figure for mobilized private finance is still provisional, pending reporting from the European Investment Bank — which amounted to $8 billion in 2020. The reasons for the decrease are not clear at present. Which among the SDGs received the biggest share? It’s difficult to map the total investments going to each of the SDGs as activities often target multiple goals. Therefore, TOSSD data shows the percentage of official resources that went to a particular SDG either by supporting this SDG or by targeting this SDG among others. In 2021, around 4.6% of the resources with a single SDG identified goal 17 — partnerships to achieve the goals — as its focus, while 10.8% of activities with multiple targets included it among their objectives. SDG 3 — good health and well-being — ranked next, accounting for 4.4% of the total single-SDG investments. Among multiple-SDG investments, 7% had SDG 3. SDG 7 — affordable and clean energy — also accounted for 4.4% of single-SDG investments. Around 3.6% of those with multiple targets included Goal 7. Meanwhile, 45% of the resources in 2021 were classified as “not marked” — which means that 45% of expenditures were reported without an SDG target. This represents an improvement from the previous year, where 48% of the activities were not allocated at least to one SDG. What were the sectoral priorities? Another way the TOSSD data is presented is through sectoral classification, which is done using the Organisation for Economic Co-ordination and Development’s DAC and CRS code list and the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, or ISIC, classification. The biggest share of TOSSD resources went to humanitarian aid, worth $40.6 billion — 10.3% of the total official investments tracked in 2021. Humanitarian aid received $34.4 billion in 2019 and $40.5 billion in 2020. Syria is the top recipient of humanitarian aid in 2021, with $8.8 billion. This included flow from Turkey, which mainly supported Syrian refugees on its soil. Yemen ranked next, with $2.8 billion; Afghanistan, with $2 billion; then Ethiopia, with $1.8 billion. Health was also among the priorities, with $37.8 billion of official resources — 9.6% of the total in 2021. A further $512 million was mobilized through private financing. This represents a significant increase of official support from the previous years — with $18.6 billion in 2019 and $28.8 billion in 2020. The largest share for health, worth $9 billion, went to multiple recipient countries from different regions — which TOSSD labels as “Developing countries, unspecified.” The top recipient countries of health-related official support included Bangladesh, with $1.8 billion; the Philippines, with $1.5 billion; and India, with $1.1 billion. Energy ranked next, with $33.3 billion of official support — 8.5% of the total. Another $2.4 billion was mobilized through private financing. Official investment toward this sector was at $34.2 billion in 2019 and $31.5 billion in 2020. More than a third of the officially supported investments for energy in 2021, worth $13.9 billion, went to global activities. Among countries, India was the top recipient, with $1.8 billion. Then Pakistan, with $1.4 billion; Bangladesh, with $1.1 billion; and then Indonesia, with $954.2 million. Meanwhile, around $44.6 billion, or 11.3% of the total official resources, were not reported against a particular sector in 2021. What are the geographic priorities? Around $73.7 billion, or 18.9% of the total investment from official sources, went to activities targeting multiple countries. A further $29.7 billion was mobilized through private financing. Activities that are global in scope received $19.1 billion. Among countries, India was the biggest recipient of TOSSD resources in 2021 — $15.6 billion from official sources and another $1.9 billion through private mobilization. Of the official resources to India, $5.1 billion was related to transport and storage. Other priorities included energy, with $1.8 billion; health, with $1.1 billion; and government and civil society, with $1.1 billion. Egypt ranked next, with $12.8 billion from official sources and $31.1 million through private mobilization. Around $5.3 billion of the total official support received went to commodity aid, $2.4 billion for banking and financial services, and $759 million for transport and storage. Syria was also a priority, receiving nearly $10 billion — which came wholly from official sources. This mostly went to humanitarian assistance provided in Turkey to Syrian refugees, worth $8.8 billion. The rest, worth $1.2 billion, went to other sectors, including education, government and civil society, and health. Overall, the top 10 recipient countries received $91.8 billion from official sources — 23.4% of the total. What counts as TOSSD? TOSSD measures spending on the SDGs that benefits low- and middle-income countries. It excludes money that benefits a country’s own citizens, or spending directed toward high-income countries. The list of TOSSD recipient countries is based on the Development Assistance Committee list of ODA recipients as of 2015 — the year in which the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was agreed. This includes some countries, such as Chile and Uruguay, which are no longer ODA recipients but are still providing data, as well as additional countries and territories, such as small island low- and middle-income states, which are above the threshold for ODA, but have been included because they are recipients of other funding, such as climate funding. The TOSSD figures measure contributions to the SDGs from bilateral and multilateral providers, as well as some resources raised from the private sector, but only where those private sector entities contribute as part of an official development intervention, such as when there is grant finance for a project from a multilateral development bank. TOSSD data is presented from the point of view of the recipient countries, not the donors, making it different from the more donor-focused approach of official development assistance. At present, TOSSD relies primarily on data from traditional providers such as bilateral and multilateral funders, since this data is more complete. However, given TOSSD’s focus on presenting data from the recipients’ point of view, it plans to create a review system to allow recipients to comment on the accuracy of this data. The data shows the total disbursement to recipient countries, as well as the proportion of the total resources going to each of the SDGs. Project-level information is also available on the portal. The first report was released in 2020, with information on the activities of 90 providers — chiefly countries and multilateral institutions — in 2019. This increased to 99 providers the following year. As of July 4, a total of 108 providers have reported to TOSSD for the third data collection. If a country or multilateral donor does not provide information directly to TOSSD, its figures are not used. This means at present there are some important exclusions, most notably the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The complete data for 2019 to 2021 is available on the TOSSD website. Editor’s note: Devex downloaded the TOSSD data in the second quarter of 2023, which may explain some slight differences in figures, as the portal gets updated every quarter. 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