U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently announced that the country would slash its aid budget to just 0.3% of gross national income by 2027 — the lowest level since 1999. That’s down from 0.5% at the moment, and from 0.7% just a few years ago.
What might those cuts look like in practice?
First, let’s look at the numbers. The U.K. spent £15.3 billion on official development assistance in 2023, the latest year for which official figures are available. When the full cut comes into force in 2027, it’s expected to reduce the budget to £9.2 billion, based on economic forecasts. That’s a drop of around 40% in just four years.