Which countries spent the most on aid in 2022?

Last week, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development released preliminary data on 2022 official development assistance, or ODA, giving an overview of how donors spent during a year of numerous crises — from foreign aid budget cuts, looming global economic recession, and the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The total aid spending of Development Assistance Committee member countries amounted to $204 billion — 0.36% of their collective gross national income. While it is still below the 0.7% ODA-to-GNI target, it is the fourth consecutive year of record-high ODA and the highest rate in 40 years. But the overall picture is more complex than that might make it sound. Significant additional funding went on refugees and Ukraine, while significantly less went to pandemic-related giving. Overall, aid to least developed countries, or LDCs, and to sub-Saharan Africa fell slightly. Here’s more detail on what we found. Most donors increased their spending In real terms, ODA climbed by $25.3 billion, or 13.6%, from the previous year. Among donors, 26 countries reported an increase. Germany recorded the biggest growth, worth nearly $4 billion — a 12% real-term increase from 2021. The United States followed, with a $3.9 billion, or 8.2% increase in real terms. Then Japan, with $3.3 billion, or 19% increase in real terms. Relative to its previous ODA, Poland had the biggest real-term rise at 255.6% — from $983.5 million in 2021 to $3.5 billion in 2022. In real terms, ODA spending dipped in four donors: • New Zealand – 17.2% decrease, worth $117.6 million. • Australia – 13.1% decrease, worth $465.1 million. • Greece – 6.6% decrease, worth $22.6 million. • Hungary – 1.7% decrease, worth $7.3 million. Meanwhile, only five donors reached the 0.7% ODA-to-GNI target. These are: • Luxembourg, with 1%. • Sweden, with 0.9%. • Norway, with 0.86%. • Germany, with 0.83% • Denmark, with 0.7%. However, the increase was driven by in-donor refugee costs OECD reported that the ODA increase in 2022 was mainly driven by the surge in domestic refugee costs, as a result of the war in Ukraine. DAC donors spent $29.3 billion hosting refugees — accounting for 14.4% of total ODA. In real terms, this is more than double the $12.8 billion they spent in 2021. The previous highest figure for in-donor refugee costs was in 2016, during the Syrian war, when it was $16 billion. Excluding in-donor refugee costs, ODA increased by just 4.6% in real terms. The number of donors who saw a real-terms increase in spending also falls when these costs are excluded, from 26 to 18 countries. Three donors spent more than half of their ODA on domestic refugee costs. These are: • Czech Republic – $646.1 million, or 65.5% of its ODA • Poland – $2.2 billion, or 64.6% of its ODA • Ireland – $1.3 billion, or 51.1% of its ODA The United States spent the most on refugee costs, with $6.6 billion — 12% of its total ODA. Excluding this figure, U.S. aid increased by just 5.6%. The United Kingdom spent $4.5 billion, or 28.9% of its ODA, on refugees on its soil. Excluding refugee costs, the U.K.’s ODA dropped by 16.4% in real terms from the previous year. Germany also spent $4.5 billion on refugee costs, or 12.8% of its ODA. Without the in-donor refugee costs, its overall increase was 6.4%, compared to the reported 12%. Overall, the report shows that ODA increased among 19 donors mainly or partly due to domestic refugee costs. Meanwhile, Australia and Luxembourg did not provide data for in-donor refugee costs. More than 13% of ODA went to Ukraine DAC donor countries spent $16.1 billion to support Ukraine — accounting for 7.8% of the total ODA. Of this, $1.8 billion went to humanitarian response. With nearly $9 billion, or 16.3% of its total ODA, the U.S. accounted for more than half. The other biggest donors include: • Canada – $2.4 billion, or 26.4% of its ODA. • Norway – $582.5 million, or 11.3% of its ODA. • Japan – $710.9 million, or 4.25% of its ODA. • France – $505 million, or 2.9% of its ODA. • Germany – $525.8 million, or 1.5% of its ODA. On top of that, the European Union spent another $10.6 billion on Ukraine — 38.4% of its total ODA — making total ODA to the country amount to around $26.7 billion, or 13.1% of all aid. Meanwhile, spending on the group of least developed countries fell slightly, from $33.3 billion to $33.1 billion, and spending on sub-Saharan Africa fell from $32.2 billion to $29.7 billion, suggesting it is possible that some money may have been diverted to Ukraine from other sources. Bilateral spending was triple multilateral spending Of the total ODA, $149.5 billion, or 73.3%, went to bilateral recipients. Another $51.9 billion went to multilateral agencies, while $2.6 billion was channeled through private institutions. Among the biggest bilateral spenders were: • United States – $47 billion, or 85% of its total ODA. • Japan – $14.6 billion, or 83.4% of its total ODA. • Germany – $25.2 billion, or 71.9% of its total ODA. Meanwhile, the following were the biggest contributors to multilateral agencies: • France – $6.3 billion, or 39.8% of its total ODA. • Germany – $9.7 billion, or 27.6% of its total ODA. • United States – $8.3 billion, or 15.1% of its total ODA. Just 5 countries accounted for 68% of all aid The U.S. is still the biggest source of ODA, with $55.3 billion, or 0.22% of its GNI. Its share of total ODA increased — from 23.6% in 2021 to 27.1% the following year. Germany also maintained its rank in second place, with $35 billion. The rest of the top donors include Japan, with $17.5 billion; France, with $15.9 billion; and the United Kingdom, with $15.7 billion. Together, these donors make up 68.3% of the total ODA from DAC countries. COVID-19 spending was cut by almost half Although COVID-19-related spending was cut by 45%, it still accounted for a significant portion of the total ODA. Overall, DAC’s total pandemic-related spending totalled to $11.2 billion. Some donors have not said what all their spending relates to, but available figures show at least $7 billion was spent on control and $1.5 billion on vaccine donations. Donors providing late or incomplete data include Australia, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and the United States. Top donors were Japan, with $3.3 billion; the U.S., with $2.6 billion; and Germany, with $2.3 billion. 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.