Last week, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development released preliminary data on 2021 official development assistance — highlighting what donors spent during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall, the total aid spending by Development Assistance Committee member countries amounted to $178.9 billion. This is an increase of 4.4% in real terms compared with the previous year. However, the increase is driven by contributions to COVID-19 response. If the amount spent on vaccines is excluded, ODA in 2021 grew by only 0.6%.
Here is an initial analysis with some key trends from the data: