According to the most recent data available, Germany ranks second among the world’s largest bilateral donors, and it looks very likely that by the end of this year, it will be in first place.
Events of recent weeks suggest that the U.S. government has decided to abandon its development aid powerhouse status. While it’s extremely hard to predict total U.S. aid spending in 2025, well over half of its spending currently appears to have been stopped.
In 2023, German aid was $34.7 billion, while U.S. aid was $62.3 billion — both in 2022 constant prices. If the U.S. cuts do indeed halve development spending, Germany would likely become the world’s largest donor this year, for the first time since 1960 — the first reporting year, following the establishment of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1961.