Development Co‑operation Profiles: Chinese Taipei
Table of contents
The overarching goal of Chinese Taipei’s development co-operation is to improve the well-being of partner countries; reduce poverty; promote human security; and safeguard universal values such as peace, democracy, human rights and sustainable development. Chinese Taipei is committed to international co‑operation to contribute towards global sustainable development, and actively seeks partnerships for mutual benefits. Chinese Taipei provided USD 468.5 million of official development assistance (ODA) in 2023, representing 0.06% of gross national income (GNI). This was an increase of 17% in real terms in volume and an increase in the share of GNI from 2022.
This profile presents verified data on development assistance allocation. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
Chinese Taipei’s co-operation goals and areas are outlined in the 2023 White Paper on Foreign Aid Policy and include facilitating social and economic development in partner countries; strengthening economic ties with partner countries; co-operation with international organisations; providing humanitarian assistance; providing technical and human resources training and technical assistance; and other initiatives designed to bolster international development co-operation. It also includes operating overseas missions to develop agricultural, industrial, and information and communication technology; environmental protection; disaster prevention; and economic, medical and education sectors in partner countries. Priority sectors for Chinese Taipei’s development co-operation programmes include public health and medicine, small and medium-sized enterprises, the environment, agriculture, education, and information and communication technology. Chinese Taipei’s development co-operation is focused on its partner countries in Africa, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and South Asia, Central Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.
Chinese Taipei provided USD 468.5 million of ODA in 2023, representing 0.06% of GNI. This was an increase of 17% in real terms in volume and an increase in the share of GNI from 2022. Total ODA on a grant-equivalent basis has the same value as net ODA under the cash-flow methodology used in the past, as Chinese Taipei provides only grants.1 Chinese Taipei’s ODA reached a peak in 2020 and has fluctuated since then.
Note: This table only includes information about ODA data-related DAC Recommendations. ODA: official development assistance; GNI: gross national income.
Chinese Taipei provided most of its ODA bilaterally in 2023. Gross bilateral ODA was 98.2% of total ODA disbursements. Almost 6% of gross bilateral ODA was channelled through multilateral organisations (earmarked contributions).
In 2023, Chinese Taipei provided USD 35.2 million of gross ODA to the multilateral system, a fall of 0% in real terms from 2022. Of this, USD 8.6 million was core multilateral ODA (1.8% of total ODA), while USD 26.6 million was non-core contributions earmarked for a specific country, region, theme or purpose. Project-type funding earmarked for a specific theme and/or country accounted for 2.2% of Chinese Taipei’s non-core contributions and 97.8% was programmatic funding (to pooled funds and specific-purpose programmes and funds).
See the section on Geographic, sectoral and thematic focus of ODA for the breakdown of bilateral allocations, including ODA earmarked through the multilateral development system.
In 2023, Chinese Taipei’s bilateral spending declined compared to the previous year. It provided USD 480.1 million of gross bilateral ODA (which includes earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations).
In 2023, country programmable aid amounted to USD 28.4 million, or 5.9% of Chinese Taipei’s gross bilateral ODA, compared to the non-DAC country average of 37.7%.
In 2023, Chinese Taipei channelled its bilateral ODA mainly through public sector.
In 2023, Chinese Taipei’s bilateral ODA primarily focused on Latin America and the Caribbean. USD 18.6 million was allocated to America and USD 8.2 million to Oceania, accounting respectively for 3.9% and 1.7% of gross bilateral ODA. USD 5.5 million was allocated to countries in Africa. Latin America and the Caribbean was also the main regional recipient of Chinese Taipei’s earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations.
In 2023, 5.8% of gross bilateral ODA went to Chinese Taipei’s top 10 recipients. Its top 10 recipients are in America (Guatemala, Paraguay, Belize, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Saint Lucia), Africa (Eswatini) and Oceania (Palau, Marshall Islands, Fiji and Indonesia). The share of gross bilateral ODA not allocated by country was 93%.
In 2023, Chinese Taipei allocated the highest share of gross bilateral ODA (4.3%) to upper middle-income countries in 2023, noting that 93% was unallocated by income group. Least developed countries received 0.4% of Chinese Taipei’s gross bilateral ODA (1.9 million). Additionally, Chinese Taipei allocated 1.9% of gross bilateral ODA to land-locked developing countries in 2023, equal to USD 9.1 million.
Support to contexts with high and extreme fragility was USD 11.6 million in 2023, representing 2.4% of Chinese Taipei’s gross bilateral ODA.
In 2023, the largest focus of Chinese Taipei’s bilateral ODA was social infrastructure and services. Investments in this area accounted for 40% of bilateral ODA commitments (USD 184.1 million), with a strong focus on support to education (USD 71.5 million), health and population (USD 39.1 million), and government and civil society (USD 38 million). ODA for production sectors totalled USD 130.6 million, with a focus on agriculture, forestry and fishing (USD 82.7 million). Economic infrastructure and services amounted to USD 79.1 million (17.2% of bilateral ODA). Earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations focused also on production and social sectors in 2023.
Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD) is an international statistical standard that monitors and increases transparency of all official and officially supported resources for financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing countries, as well as for addressing global challenges. In 2023, activities reported by Chinese Taipei as TOSSD totalled USD 488.8 million. Chinese Taipei’s TOSSD activities mostly targeted SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals), SDG 8 (growth and decent work) and SDG 4 (quality education). Activity-level data on TOSSD by recipient are available at: https://tossd.online.
The government of Chinese Taipei adopted the International Cooperation and Development Act in June 2010. Under this act, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government institutions are authorised to give priority to commissioning the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) and other legal entities and professionals are authorised to conduct international co-operation and development affairs. As the main implementing institution for development co-operation, TaiwanICDF implements projects in partner countries and offers educational training programmes and student fellowship programmes. It partners with 34 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean. TaiwanICDF has 20 technical missions in 19 countries.
In 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs updated the ODA Database in line with the latest OECD Creditor Reporting System (CRS). Established in 2010, the database serves to collate information on international co-operation and development from relevant government agencies and as a source of information for the International Cooperation and Development Annual Report, which is published on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website.
Access the full list of providers at this link: Development Co-operation Profiles.
Chinese Taipei Ministry of Foreign Affairs: https://en.mofa.gov.tw
International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF): https://www.icdf.org.tw/wSite/mp?mp=2
2023 White Paper on Foreign Aid Policy: https://www.mofa.gov.tw/cl.aspx?n=3927
Chinese Taipei has been reporting to the OECD since 2004 at the aggregate level and since 2023 partly at the activity level.
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including the grant-equivalent methodology, core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, country programmable aid, channels of delivery, bilateral ODA unspecified/unallocated, bilateral allocable ODA, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.
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← 1. Non-grants include sovereign loans, multilateral loans, equity investment and loans to the private sector.