Where did the top donors spend their bilateral ODA in 2024?

In 2024, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reported that official development assistance, or ODA, fell from $223.4 billion to $214.6 billion in grant-equivalent terms in current prices. This marks the first drop in overall ODA after five years of consistent growth. Of this, $163.3 billion was given bilaterally, while $51.3 billion was channelled multilaterally. Bilateral aid refers to direct donor-to-recipient transactions, while multilateral aid channels the donor’s money into multilateral organizations such as the World Bank or the United Nations. In some cases, bilateral aid may decrease while multilateral aid increases and vice versa. For a deeper understanding of where donor priorities lie, this analysis will focus on the bilateral spending of the top donors. Bilateral ODA makes up a huge part of a donor’s total ODA. This will also allow us some insight into the donor’s direct relationship with other countries. According to OECD data, bilateral, grant-equivalent ODA from the Development Assistance Committee, or DAC countries, fell by $4.6 billion from the previous year. The majority of that ODA, around 73.6%, came from just five donors: the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, and France. Combined, these donors gave around $120.3 billion in grant-equivalent, bilateral ODA in 2024. Each of these donors had their own priorities when it came to sectors and recipients, but also carried some similarities. To identify these priorities, Devex used the OECD creditor reporting system, which provides a granular breakdown of where and to whom these donors give money. The figures are in current prices and are in grant-equivalent terms. This will also allow us to quantify the loans given by the donors at the time those loans were committed. <div class='tableauPlaceholder' id='viz1772098242274' style='position: relative'><noscript><a href='#'><img alt='Dashboard 1 ' src='https:&#47;&#47;public.tableau.com&#47;static&#47;images&#47;Wh&#47;Whatdidthetopdonorsfundin2024&#47;Dashboard1&#47;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='Whatdidthetopdonorsfundin2024&#47;Dashboard1' /><param name='tabs' value='no' /><param name='toolbar' value='yes' /><param name='static_image' value='https:&#47;&#47;public.tableau.com&#47;static&#47;images&#47;Wh&#47;Whatdidthetopdonorsfundin2024&#47;Dashboard1&#47;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' /></object></div><param name='device' value='desktop' /><param name='showShareOptions' value='false' /> <script type='text/javascript'> var divElement = document.getElementById('viz1772098242274'); 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='777px';} 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 sectors and recipients of the top five ODA donors.</i> United States At this point, prior to cuts under the second Trump administration, the U.S was still the largest provider of bilateral ODA. In 2024, it gave $58.9 billion — or 36.1% — of the total bilateral ODA from the DAC countries. Regionally, the U.S. gave the most to Africa, amounting to $15.8 billion, followed by Europe with $10.5 billion. Asia received almost $9 billion, the Americas with $3.6 billion, and then Oceania with $1.5 billion. The U.S. also gave a significant amount to projects that cover multiple countries across different regions. OECD classifies this as “developing countries, unspecified.” The U.S. gave $18.4 billion to these projects. Country-wise, Ukraine received a huge chunk of the funding — $9.5 billion, which makes up the majority of the funding for the European region. Next is Ethiopia with $1.4 billion, Jordan with $1.4 billion, the Democratic Republic of Congo with $1.1 billion, and then Nigeria with $920.8 million. In terms of sectors, the U.S. gave the most — totaling $13.1 billion — to humanitarian aid, followed by the government and civil society sector with $12.2 billion. Population policies/programs and reproductive health come third with $9 billion, refugees in donor countries received almost $7 billion, while $6.3 billion went to administrative costs. Administrative costs of donors refer to the amount of money spent on managing, delivering, and monitoring foreign aid programs. Germany Germany is the biggest donor next to the U.S. It gave $24.5 billion in bilateral ODA, accounting for 15% of the total. The geographic focus of Germany lies in Asia. It gave a total of $4.2 billion to countries within that region. Africa received $3.6 billion. Europe got $1.5 billion. The Americas got $1 billion, while Oceania only received $8.6 million. For multiregional or cross-country projects, Germany gave $14.2 billion. Similar to the U.S., Germany gave the most money to Ukraine, amounting to $859.4 million, in response to the Russia-Ukraine war. India comes next with $744.8 million, followed by China with $462.3 million, Syria with $307.5 million, and then Indonesia with $239.8 million. Germany’s sectoral priorities slightly differ. It spent $6.3 billion on in-donor refugee costs. The country is one of the biggest spenders on in-donor refugee costs. The education sector comes next with almost $3 billion, which is followed by humanitarian aid with $1.8 billion. Government and civil society received $1.5 billion, while $1.3 billion went to administrative costs. Projects that cover a multitude of sectors, which OECD labels as “other multisector,” received $5.1 billion. United Kingdom The U.K.’s total bilateral ODA sits at $14.4 billion, accounting for 8.8% of the total bilateral ODA from DAC member countries. Looking at the numbers, this is by far the U.K.’s biggest bilateral ODA contribution in the past five years. Africa is the biggest recipient of aid from the U.K. It received $2.4 billion. Asia received $1.7 billion, followed by Europe with $457.4 million, the Americas with $233.9 million, and then Oceania with $26.4 million. Cross-regional projects received $9.5 billion. Like most of the top DAC members, the U.K. spent the most money on Ukraine. It gave $344.6 million. Afghanistan received $245.4 million, followed by Ethiopia with $232.3 million, Syria with $201.9 million, and then Somalia with $183.3 million. Sector-wise, the U.K. also primarily focused on in-refugee costs with $3.6 billion. Humanitarian aid received $1.7 billion, followed by government and civil society with $950.7 million, administrative costs with $912 million, and education with $893.9 million. Projects that cannot be defined by a specific economic or social sector, which OECD labels as “unallocated/unspecified,” received almost $2 billion. Japan Japan is known for providing loans instead of grants as a form of its bilateral ODA. Using grant-equivalent bilateral ODA will allow us to use a number that is consistent with all the other donors. In 2024, Japan spent a total of $13.8 billion in grant-equivalent bilateral ODA, which accounts for 8.4% of the total spent by DAC member countries. Asia was Japan’s top priority, spending $8.4 billion, followed by Africa with $1.5 billion. Europe received $671.4 million, the Americas got $426.5 million, and Oceania received $114.6 million. Cross-regional and multicountry projects received around $2.6 billion. At a country level, Japan spent the most on India with $2.5 billion. Bangladesh received $1.1 billion; followed by Iraq with $833.8 million; the Philippines with $728.8 million; and then Indonesia with $607.3 million. Contrary to most donors on the list, Ukraine ranks further down, receiving $466.2 million from Japan. Japan’s priority sectors differ vastly from those of the other donors in this list, focusing more on movement and infrastructure. Japan gave the most to the transport and storage sector — $4.7 billion. The industry, mining, and construction sector received $1.7 billion, while the energy sector got $993.8 million. Humanitarian aid got $634.5 million, and the water supply and sanitation sector received $632.6 million. France France spent a total of $8.7 billion in bilateral ODA, accounting for 5.3% of the total. According to the data, France’s bilateral ODA spending is at a slow decline compared to previous years. Geographically, France mainly focused on the African region, specifically those in Francophone countries. Africa received $3.6 billion, followed by Asia with $1.3 billion. America received $474.2 million, Europe got $217.6 million, and then Oceania got $159.2 million. Country-wise, Côte d’Ivoire received the most funding with $384.5 million. Morocco comes next with $344 million, followed by Egypt with $232 million, Senegal with $189.3 million, and then Lebanon with $165.5 million. Education was the primary sectoral focus of France. Projects under this heading received $1.6 billion. In-donor refugee costs received $1.2 billion, administrative costs got almost $859 million, action relating to debt received $643.2 million, and government and civil society got $495.5 million. What’s next? While the official OECD figures for 2025 have yet to be released, the downward trend in 2024 bilateral ODA serves as a clear harbinger. These earlier numbers likely serve as a prelude, providing a blueprint for the significant aid contraction we expect to see once the 2025 data is finalized. In a few weeks, the OECD will be releasing a preliminary report on the ODA numbers in 2025, which Devex will be covering as soon as it comes out. 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.