Where did the Gates Foundation spend its money?
In the past five years, the Gates Foundation has given a total of $26.7 billion in aid, which rivals that of some of the biggest bilateral donors in terms of ODA. Where and what did the foundation spend its money on? Devex crunched the numbers to find out.
The Gates Foundation is undoubtedly one of the biggest philanthropies in the development world. During the past five years, Gates has provided a total of $26.7 billion in aid. Each year, Gates roughly spends a minimum of $5 billion in grants. Its contribution roughly measures up to that of bilateral donors such as Norway, Sweden, and Spain, according to preliminary data. In 2024 alone, Gates has spent $5.4 billion. <div class='tableauPlaceholder' id='viz1764843441370' style='position: relative'><noscript><a href='#'><img alt='Dashboard 3 ' src='https://public.tableau.com/static/images/Ga/Gates-YearonYear/Dashboard3/1_rss.png' style='border: none' /></a></noscript><object class='tableauViz' style='display:none;'><param name='host_url' value='https%3A%2F%2Fpublic.tableau.com%2F' /> <param name='embed_code_version' value='3' /> <param name='site_root' value='' /><param name='name' value='Gates-YearonYear/Dashboard3' /><param name='tabs' value='no' /><param name='toolbar' value='yes' /><param name='static_image' value='https://public.tableau.com/static/images/Ga/Gates-YearonYear/Dashboard3/1.png' /> <param name='animate_transition' value='yes' /><param name='display_static_image' value='yes' /><param name='display_spinner' value='yes' /><param name='display_overlay' value='yes' /><param name='display_count' value='yes' /><param name='language' value='en-US' /><param name='filter' value='publish=yes' /></object></div><param name='device' value='desktop' /><param name='showShareOptions' value='false' /> <script type='text/javascript'> var divElement = document.getElementById('viz1764843441370'); var vizElement = divElement.getElementsByTagName('object')[0]; if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 800 ) { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height=(divElement.offsetWidth*0.75)+'px';} else if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 500 ) { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height=(divElement.offsetWidth*0.75)+'px';} else { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height='727px';} var scriptElement = document.createElement('script'); scriptElement.src = 'https://public.tableau.com/javascripts/api/viz_v1.js'; vizElement.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, vizElement); </script> <i style=font-style: georgia;”>Year-on-year comparison of Gates’ funding from 2020-2024, according to OECD data.</i> With one of the biggest donors — the United States — pulling back aid, the community can expect the opposite from Gates. It is doubling its funding to $200 billion for the next two decades. This comes with the caveat that Gates will be closing its doors by 2045. While we do not have the concrete numbers just yet, it was reported that Gates has already spent $8.7 billion in 2025 as a result. Previously, we have covered who is being funded by Gates. This analysis looks at where the money goes and what it supports. In order to get a glimpse of what and where Gates is funding, we used the private philanthropy for development dataset from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The figures are considered preliminary, but the final numbers should not differ drastically when the final numbers come out later this month. Figures stated in this analysis are in 2023 constant prices unless stated otherwise. Where did the money go? Regionally, in 2024, the African region received the most funding with $1.9 billion. The Asian region comes next with $769 million, then America with $35.5 million, Europe with $1.7 million, and then Oceania with $1.3 million. The largest share of Gates’ funding went to projects that are intended to be enacted in multiple countries. These projects are labelled as “developing countries, unspecified” by the OECD. These projects received $2.7 billion, with most of the funding going to the health sector, which was $1.4 billion. At a country level, projects in Nigeria received the most funding. It received a total of $287.1 million, which mostly went to the health sector with $169.1 million. Population policies and reproductive health programs received $47.7 million. India is next with a total of $275.6 million. Most of the money went to the health sector, with almost $121 million, and then the agriculture sector, with $41.9 million. Pakistan follows, receiving nearly $204 million. Health projects dominate with $135.5 million, but Gates also gave $44 million to action relating to debt. Ethiopia comes next with $177.6 million. Projects related to health were most funded with $87.8 million. The agricultural sector received $37.3 million, and population policy/reproductive health programs received $35 million. Lastly, Kenya received $157.2 million. Much like the rest of the countries, the health sector received the most funding with $53.4 million. The agricultural sector follows with $34.7 million, and then population policy/reproductive health programs received $30.3 million. <div class='tableauPlaceholder' id='viz1764842440206' style='position: relative'><noscript><a href='#'><img alt='Dashboard 2 ' src='https://public.tableau.com/static/images/Ga/Gates-Recipients/Dashboard2/1_rss.png' style='border: none' /></a></noscript><object class='tableauViz' style='display:none;'><param name='host_url' value='https%3A%2F%2Fpublic.tableau.com%2F' /> <param name='embed_code_version' value='3' /> <param name='site_root' value='' /><param name='name' value='Gates-Recipients/Dashboard2' /><param name='tabs' value='no' /><param name='toolbar' value='yes' /><param name='static_image' value='https://public.tableau.com/static/images/Ga/Gates-Recipients/Dashboard2/1.png' /> <param name='animate_transition' value='yes' /><param name='display_static_image' value='yes' /><param name='display_spinner' value='yes' /><param name='display_overlay' value='yes' /><param name='display_count' value='yes' /><param name='language' value='en-US' /><param name='filter' value='publish=yes' /></object></div><param name='device' value='desktop' /><param name='showShareOptions' value='false' /> <script type='text/javascript'> var divElement = document.getElementById('viz1764842440206'); var vizElement = divElement.getElementsByTagName('object')[0]; if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 800 ) { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height=(divElement.offsetWidth*0.75)+'px';} else if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 500 ) { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height=(divElement.offsetWidth*0.75)+'px';} else { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height='727px';} var scriptElement = document.createElement('script'); scriptElement.src = 'https://public.tableau.com/javascripts/api/viz_v1.js'; vizElement.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, vizElement); </script> <i style=font-style: georgia;”>The top country and regional recipients of Gates in 2024, according to OECD data.</i> What did the money fund? Gates’ primary target is health, which is reflected by what they have funded in 2024. The health sector received $2.9 billion — 53.6% of the total. This does not include other health-related sectors, such as population policies/programs and reproductive health, and the water supply and sanitation sector. The population policies/programs and reproductive health sector received a total of $755.5 million, accounting for 14.1% of the total. Gates, however, does not strictly limit itself to these sectors. Another of its primary mandates is to reduce poverty by improving education, agriculture, and digital public infrastructure. The agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector received $484.7 million, or 9.1%. Banking and financial services got $184.7 million, or 3.5%, and government and civil society received $166.7 million or 3.1%. Action relating to debt, where the donor provides assistance to lessen a country’s debt, received $57.1 million. The water supply and sanitation sector received almost $50 million, and the education sector received $38.3 million. Unallocated or unspecified sectors, which include projects that cover multiple sectors, received $642.5 million in funding. <div class='tableauPlaceholder' id='viz1764842486523' style='position: relative'><noscript><a href='#'><img alt='Dashboard 1 ' src='https://public.tableau.com/static/images/Ga/Gates-Sectors/Dashboard1/1_rss.png' style='border: none' /></a></noscript><object class='tableauViz' style='display:none;'><param name='host_url' value='https%3A%2F%2Fpublic.tableau.com%2F' /> <param name='embed_code_version' value='3' /> <param name='site_root' value='' /><param name='name' value='Gates-Sectors/Dashboard1' /><param name='tabs' value='no' /><param name='toolbar' value='yes' /><param name='static_image' value='https://public.tableau.com/static/images/Ga/Gates-Sectors/Dashboard1/1.png' /> <param name='animate_transition' value='yes' /><param name='display_static_image' value='yes' /><param name='display_spinner' value='yes' /><param name='display_overlay' value='yes' /><param name='display_count' value='yes' /><param name='language' value='en-US' /><param name='filter' value='publish=yes' /></object></div><param name='device' value='desktop' /><param name='showShareOptions' value='false' /> <script type='text/javascript'> var divElement = document.getElementById('viz1764842486523'); var vizElement = divElement.getElementsByTagName('object')[0]; if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 800 ) { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height=(divElement.offsetWidth*0.75)+'px';} else if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 500 ) { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height=(divElement.offsetWidth*0.75)+'px';} else { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height='727px';} var scriptElement = document.createElement('script'); scriptElement.src = 'https://public.tableau.com/javascripts/api/viz_v1.js'; vizElement.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, vizElement); </script> <i style=font-style: georgia;”>The top funded sectors of Gates in 2024, according to OECD data.</i> 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.
The Gates Foundation is undoubtedly one of the biggest philanthropies in the development world. During the past five years, Gates has provided a total of $26.7 billion in aid.
Each year, Gates roughly spends a minimum of $5 billion in grants. Its contribution roughly measures up to that of bilateral donors such as Norway, Sweden, and Spain, according to preliminary data. In 2024 alone, Gates has spent $5.4 billion.
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Alecsondra Si is a Junior Development Analyst at Devex. She analyzes funding data from bilateral and multilateral agencies, foundations, and other public and private donors to produce content for Devex Pro and Pro Funding readers. She has a bachelor’s degree in International Studies - major in European Studies from De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines.
