Inside the shrinking income of the United Nations

The past couple of years have been some of the most tumultuous in the modern history of the United Nations, with a dramatic reduction in U.S. support. But even before the arrival of President Donald Trump on the scene, the U.N. had been experiencing a drop in income. The latest financial statistics data from the U.N. System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, CEB, reveals a 1.9% real-term reduction in the total income of the U.N. in 2024 — falling to $68.3 billion from $69.6 billion in 2023 — the second year in a row of falling income. This predates the aid cuts from the U.S. and other major bilateral donors — the U.N.’s leading funders for many years — suggesting that a more dramatic drop in the coming years is likely. In this analysis, we reviewed the U.N.’s financial health by identifying its largest funders and top-recipient agencies. We also looked into the U.N.’s geographical and sectoral priorities. All of the figures are in 2024 U.S. dollar constant prices. How is the UN funded? The U.N. system’s revenue comes primarily from the assessed and voluntary contributions of its member states. Assessed contributions are mandatory payments for the U.N. regular budget and peacekeeping operations budgets. The amount is determined by a formula that takes into consideration a member country’s capacity to pay, ensuring that even the smallest economies would still be able to contribute. Assessed contributions range from 0.001% up to 22% of the regular budget, with the U.S. as the only country to have hit the ceiling assessment rate. On the other hand, voluntary contributions are donations to funds, programs, and specialized agencies based solely on the donors’ discretion. These can either be earmarked funds, where use is determined by the donors themselves, or unearmarked, in which case the receiving U.N. agencies can use at their own discretion. Voluntary contributions come from the member states, multilateral institutions, and private foundations. Some agencies, such as UNICEF and the World Health Organization, are funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions. Lastly, some agencies also generate their own revenue from other activities, as is the case with UNOPS, whose entire income comes from payment for service provision. Overall, 68.4% of the U.N.’s total income in 2024, worth $46.8 billion, came from voluntary contributions — $41.4 billion in earmarked contributions and $5.3 billion in unearmarked contributions. Assessed contributions made up a fifth of the total revenue, worth $13.8 billion, while income from other activities accounted for the remaining 7.8%, worth $5.3 billion. Which agencies got the most funding — and from whom? The World Food Programme remains the largest U.N. agency by total income, with $10.4 billion, — up 10.4% from the agency’s $9.4 billion revenue in 2023. More than half of WFP’s income from bilateral donors, worth $4.4 billion, came from the U.S. — a 38.6% increase from the country’s $3.2 billion contribution in 2023. WFP’s other top donors included Germany, with $1 billion, the U.K., with $670.2 million, and Pakistan, with $212.4 million. UNICEF ranked next among U.N. agencies, with $8.6 billion, down 6.4% from its $9.2 billion revenue in the previous year. Similar to WFP, the U.S. was also UNICEF’s biggest governmental funder, contributing more than $1.1 billion to the agency. The other leading donors included Germany, with $680.3 million, the U.K., with $412.6 million, and South Korea, with $151.8 million. The U.N. Secretariat was also among the highest-earning U.N. agencies, with $7.6 billion, down 1.7% from its $7.8 billion income in 2023. The top bilateral donors to the U.N. Secretariat included the U.S., with $1 billion, Germany, with $750.6 million, China, with $637.4 million, the U.K., with $514.4 million, and Japan, with $329.8 million. The other largest U.N. agencies by total income included the United Nations Department of Peace Operations, or DPO, with $6.8 billion, the United Nations Development Programme, or UNDP, with $5.3 billion, and the UN Refugee Agency, or UNHCR, with $4.7 billion. Overall, the composition of the top 10 U.N. agencies by total income remained unchanged between 2023 and 2024. Who are the overall largest donors to the UN? The United States ranked first among the top bilateral donors, contributing a total of $14.3 billion to support the U.N. system — up from $13.4 billion in 2023. This accounted for 30.6% of the international organization’s total revenue in 2024. Germany ranked next, with $4.8 billion, or 10.2% of the total. Germany retained its ranking despite a sharp dip from 2023, when its contribution was worth $5.5 billion. The U.K. followed among top bilateral funders, with $3.1 billion — 6.6% of the total — up on its $2.4 billion contribution in the previous year. China ranked next, with $2.4 billion, followed by Japan, with $2.3 billion, Canada, with $1.8 billion, and France, with $1.5 billion. Among multilateral and nongovernment sources, the European Union allocated the largest sum, worth $3.6 billion, up slightly from its $3.56 billion contribution in 2023. The World Bank Group followed, with $1.6 billion, then the Global Environment Facility, with $650.4 million, and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, with $645.3 million. The data also shows that the U.N. received income from U.N.-managed pool funds, such as the Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office, managed by UNDP, and the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs appeals. CEB classifies them as multilateral contributions. How did the UN agencies spend the money? Our findings show that the U.N.’s total expenditure dipped in 2024 — from $70.5 billion in 2023 to $66 billion. CEB classifies spending data into four main categories. Humanitarian assistance remains the largest spending area, with $27.2 billion, or 41.2% of the total expenditures. This is a drop compared to the $31.7 billion spent on humanitarian assistance in 2023. WFP spent the largest sum for humanitarian assistance, worth $8.7 billion, followed by UNHCR, worth $4.9 billion, UNICEF, worth $4.7 billion, and the U.N. Secretariat, worth $2.6 billion. Development assistance was the second-largest area, with $21.3 billion. The top-spending agencies for development assistance were UNDP, worth $4.8 billion, UNICEF, worth $3.8 billion, and the Food and Agriculture Organization, with $1.7 billion. The remaining went to global agenda and specialized assistance, worth $8.8 billion, and peace operations, worth $8.7 billion. What are the geographical and sectoral priorities? CEB data shows that South Sudan was the U.N.’s top recipient country, with $2.7 billion, or 4% of the total expenditure in 2024. DPO spent the most on South Sudan, worth $1.3 billion, followed by WFP, with $548 million, and UNICEF, with $273.6 million. South Sudan overtook Afghanistan — now ranked second — which topped the list in 2022 and 2023. The U.N. spent $2.6 billion on Afghanistan in 2024. The top spenders on Afghanistan were UNICEF, with $681.4 million, WFP, with $654.7 million, and the U.N. Secretariat, with $309.9 million. The other priority countries were the Democratic Republic of Congo, with $2.4 billion, Somalia, with $2.1 billion, Lebanon, with $2 billion, Ukraine, with $1.9 billion, and the occupied Palestinian territories, with $1.8 billion. CEB data also classifies spending by Sustainable Development Goals targets. SDG 16 — peace, justice, and strong institutions — remains the top SDG, with $12.1 billion, or 18.4% of the total. SDG 2 — zero hunger — ranked next, with $10.2 billion. Another priority was SDG 3 – good health — with $8.4 billion. Try out Devex Pro Funding today with a free five-day trial, and explore funding opportunities from over 850 sources in addition to our analysis and news content.