Which sectors are most vulnerable to US aid cuts
The ongoing aid freeze and likely budget cuts could undo decades of progress in many sectors which had the U.S. as their biggest donor before the freeze.
It’s been a month since the Trump administration launched a series of attacks on the U.S. Agency for International Development. The effects across sectors — from global health supply chain, and scholarship programs, to emergency response — have been disastrous. Devex has been reporting on the day-to-day development since the start stop-work order. We have also provided in-depth analyses of existing USAID data to map out the expanse of the aid freeze. In this analysis, we look into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s creditor reporting system, or CRS, to identify the U.S.’s sectoral priorities. The latest final data is only up to 2023, but it can still provide a rough overview of which sectors are likely to get hit most by the ongoing purge. Figures are in 2022 constant prices. Broad categories The U.S. is the world’s largest bilateral donor in monetary terms. Of the $223.3 billion official development assistance, or ODA, the Development Assistance Committee, or DAC, member countries spent in 2023, $64.7 billion, almost 30%, came from the U.S. This accounted for merely 0.24% of the U.S.’s gross national income, or GNI — way below the 0.7% ODA-to-GNI target and the DAC average of 0.37%. Most of the U.S.’s ODA was spent bilaterally, about $56.9 billion, up 9% from 2022. The remaining sum was channeled through the multilateral system. Of the $56.9 billion, $29.4 billion went to what is known as nonsector-allocable aid. This includes humanitarian aid, which received $14.5 billion — 57.3 % of the total amount spent by DAC member countries. Administrative costs were worth $7.7 billion, and in-donor refugee costs were worth $6.7 billion. The remaining $27.5 billion was assigned to recognized aid sectors. In focus: Sector-allocable aid Sector-allocable aid is divided into four main categories: social infrastructure and services, production sectors, economic infrastructure and services, and multisector or cross-cutting. Around 86% of the total sector-allocable aid, worth $23.6 billion, went to social infrastructure and services — accounting for 45.7% of DAC’s total aid. Social infrastructure and services has six subcategories: government and civil society; health; education; population and reproductive health; water supply and sanitation; and all other social infrastructure and services. Production sectors ranked next, with $1.39 billion, or 18.2% of DAC’s total. It has four subcategories, namely agriculture, forestry, and fishing; industry, mining, and construction; tourism; and trade policies and regulations. Economic infrastructure and services, which received $1.38 billion, has five subcategories: banking and financial services; business and other services; communications; energy; and transport and storage. The U.S. ODA to economic infrastructure and services amounted to 9.8% of DAC's total contribution. Lastly, $1.1 billion went to multisector or cross-cutting programs, or 9.8% of DAC’s total aid. The U.S.’s top three priority sectors in 2023 all came from social infrastructure and services: government and civil society; population and reproductive health; and health. The U.S. spent $13.6 billion, or nearly half of its total sector-allocable aid, on government and civil society — up 25.8% from 2022. Among the activities under government and civil society, $10.5 billion went to public sector policy and administrative management. This accounted for 93.7% of DAC’s total spending on this area. The other priorities included democratic participation and civil society, with $939.8 million, human rights, with $470.9 million, and peacebuilding, with $359 million. Despite the 36.6% dip from 2022, population and reproductive health ranked second among priority sectors, with $4.7 billion. This accounted for 17.2% of the total sector-allocable aid. There are four areas under population and reproductive health. STD control, which received most of the aid amounting to $3.7 billion — 96.5% of DAC’s total allocation to this area. Reproductive health care followed, with $506.8 million; family planning, with $435.3 million; and population policy and administrative management, with $48.8 million. Finally, $3 billion went to health, or 10.9% of the total sector-allocable aid, and down 39% from 2022. Malaria control was the priority, receiving $695.5 million. DAC’s total spending on this area was worth $722.1 million, which means that virtually all aid came from the U.S. COVID-19 ranked next, with $673.6 million, and infectious disease control, with $438.9 million. Overall, our analysis shows that 19 areas got more than 50% of their total ODA in 2023 from the U.S. Among them, seven received over 80%: sexually transmitted infections control, malaria control, public sector policy and administrative management, narcotics control, tuberculosis control, relief coordination and support services, and debt swap. This shows that should the freeze continue, or worse, the Trump administration decides to significantly reduce its foreign assistance, funding to some areas will stop altogether. Unless the U.S. government suddenly retracts or other donors step in, the ongoing crisis will surely undo decades of progress in so many areas, and risk the lives of millions of people across the globe. <div class='tableauPlaceholder' id='viz1739682030705' style='position: relative'><noscript><a href='#'><img alt='Dashboard 1 (2) ' src='https://public.tableau.com/static/images/US/USODAbysectorsin2023/Dashboard12/1_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='USODAbysectorsin2023/Dashboard12' /><param name='tabs' value='no' /><param name='toolbar' value='yes' /><param name='static_image' value='https://public.tableau.com/static/images/US/USODAbysectorsin2023/Dashboard12/1.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' /><param name='showShareOptions' value='false' /></object></div> <script type='text/javascript'> var divElement = document.getElementById('viz1739682030705'); var vizElement = divElement.getElementsByTagName('object')[0]; if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 800 ) { vizElement.style.width='580px';vizElement.style.height='1227px';} else if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 500 ) { vizElement.style.width='580px';vizElement.style.height='1227px';} else { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height='977px';} 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;”>U.S. official development aid by sector in 2023, based on OECD.</i> Update, March 3, 2025: This article has been updated. Some percentages were updated to reflect the total DAC spending on areas that did not receive funding from the U.S. 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.
It’s been a month since the Trump administration launched a series of attacks on the U.S. Agency for International Development. The effects across sectors — from global health supply chain, and scholarship programs, to emergency response — have been disastrous.
Devex has been reporting on the day-to-day development since the start stop-work order. We have also provided in-depth analyses of existing USAID data to map out the expanse of the aid freeze.
In this analysis, we look into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s creditor reporting system, or CRS, to identify the U.S.’s sectoral priorities. The latest final data is only up to 2023, but it can still provide a rough overview of which sectors are likely to get hit most by the ongoing purge.
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Miguel Tamonan is a Senior Development Analyst at Devex, where he analyzes data from public and private donors to produce content and special reports for Pro and Pro Funding readers. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a Major in International Relations from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
