Development Co‑operation Profiles: Iceland
Table of contents
Committed to fighting poverty, Iceland invests in marginalised and rural communities in low-income and fragile contexts through district-level approaches and multilateral and civil society partners. Iceland strongly emphasises respect for human rights, gender equality and the environment. It has committed almost half of its bilateral allocable aid to projects and programmes promoting the inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities. Iceland’s total official development assistance (ODA) (USD 129.7 million, preliminary data) increased in 2025, representing 0.34% of gross national income (GNI).
This profile presents verified data on Iceland’s development assistance allocations. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
Iceland’s development co-operation is guided by a commitment to poverty eradication, respect for human rights and improving living standards. The Policy for International Development Co-operation 2024-2028 sets out human rights, gender equality, and environmental and climate affairs as the specific and cross‑cutting objectives that serve as pillars of all of Iceland’s development co-operation efforts, in alignment with its expertise. Its three priority partner countries for bilateral co-operation are Malawi, Sierra Leone and Uganda. Iceland is valued as a partner for its unique district-level approach to development co-operation.
Iceland supports its priority areas of gender equality and women’s empowerment, the blue economy, the environment and energy, human rights, and the humanitarian-development-peace nexus through its core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations. Increasing synergies between bilateral and multilateral development co-operation and humanitarian assistance is a priority for Iceland.
The 2023 OECD-DAC Peer Review found that Iceland optimises its development co-operation by focusing on a few key bilateral partner countries (Malawi, Sierra Leone and Uganda) to improve rural communities’ livelihoods and socio-economic living conditions. Iceland leverages its expertise in gender, geothermal energy, fisheries and land restoration through its training programmes and multilateral support. It works closely with a small number of multilateral organisations to advance gender equality, human rights, climate and the environment, and humanitarian assistance and to complement its bilateral portfolio. The 2026 mid‑term review found that Iceland made progress on eight of the ten recommendations of its 2023 Peer Review, with more limited improvement on the others.
Discover insights from Iceland’s 2023 Peer Review and 2026 mid-term review, and learn from Iceland’s practices in Development Co-operation Tools Insights Practices.
Iceland provided USD 129.7 million (preliminary data) of ODA in 2025 (USD 114.2 million in constant terms), representing 0.34% of GNI.1 This was an increase of 3.6% in real terms in volume and an increase in the share of GNI from 2024. ODA volume has increased overall in the past fifteen years, despite a slight decrease in 2019 and 2024, and Iceland is working to scale up its ODA programme. As set out in a parliamentary resolution, Iceland was just below its intermediary target of 0.35% GNI as ODA in 2024, and halfway to meeting its 0.7% ODA/GNI international commitment. No ODA cuts have been announced for 2026, but the government’s 2026-30 fiscal plan has revised the ODA/GNI target downwards, to 0.39% ODA/GNI in 2030. Within Iceland’s ODA portfolio in 2024, 100% was provided in the form of grants. Total ODA on a grant-equivalent basis has the same value as net ODA under the cash-flow methodology used in the past, as Iceland provides only grants.
In 2025, Iceland ranked 32nd among Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members in terms of ODA volume and 14th when ODA is taken as a share of GNI. Iceland stands out as the DAC country channelling the highest share of its gross ODA allocated to multilaterals to the United Nations (UN) system. Iceland is also the second-highest provider of bilateral allocable ODA commitments to persons with disabilities, of bilateral allocable ODA commitments to malnutrition, and of ODA to health and population sectors. Iceland was among the top DAC members in providing support to land-locked LDCs and to fragile contexts, and in allocating gross bilateral ODA to civil society organisations (CSOs) as core contributions. It also stands out for its commitment to supporting gender equality (74.6% of total bilateral allocable ODA commitments).
Iceland is committed to several international targets and DAC standards and recommendations. Learn more about DAC Recommendations.
Notes: This table only includes information about ODA data-related DAC recommendations. ODA: official development assistance; GNI: gross national income; DAC: Development Assistance Committee.
Iceland provided most of its ODA bilaterally in 2024. Gross bilateral ODA was 80.8% of total ODA disbursements. Of this, 46.6% was channelled through multilateral organisations (earmarked contributions).
In 2024, Iceland provided USD 62.6 million of gross ODA to the multilateral system, a fall of 12.7% in real terms from 2023. Of this, USD 21.2 million was core multilateral ODA (19.2% of total ODA), while USD 41.5 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 30.1% of Iceland’s non‑core contributions, and 69.9% was programmatic funding (to pooled funds and specific-purpose programmes and funds).
The United Nations (UN) system received 65.6% of Iceland’s contributions to multilateral organisations, of which USD 25.4 million (61.9%) represented earmarked contributions. Out of a total volume of USD 41.1 million to the UN system, the top three UN recipients of Iceland’s support (core and earmarked contributions) were United Nations Children’s Fund (USD 6.7 million), the World Food Programme (USD 6 million) and United Nations Refugee Agency (USD 4.4 million).
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.
Learn more by exploring the DAC members’ use of the multilateral system dashboard.
In 2024, Iceland’s bilateral spending declined compared to the previous year. It provided USD 89 million of gross bilateral ODA (which includes earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations). This represented a decrease of 3.3% in real terms from 2023.
In 2024, country programmable aid amounted to USD 36.8 million, or 41.4% of Iceland’s gross bilateral ODA, compared to the DAC country average of 46.5%.
Iceland’s in-donor refugee costs amounted to USD 7.1 million (8% of gross bilateral ODA) in 2024, while humanitarian aid was USD 12.4 million, or 13.9% of gross bilateral ODA.
In 2024, Iceland channelled its bilateral ODA mainly through multilateral organisations and public sector. Technical co-operation made up 13.1% of gross ODA in 2024.
In 2024, CSOs received USD 9.3 million of gross bilateral ODA, of which 8.9% was directed to developing country-based CSOs. Overall, 6.8% of gross bilateral ODA was allocated to CSOs as core contributions and 3.7% was channelled through CSOs to implement projects initiated by the provider (earmarked funding). From 2023 to 2024, the combined core and earmarked contributions for CSOs increased as a share of bilateral ODA, from 9.2% to 10.4%.
Learn more by reading the DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid and by exploring the ODA to civil society organisations dashboard.
In 2024, Iceland’s bilateral ODA primarily focused on countries in Africa. USD 28.3 million was allocated to countries in Africa and USD 9.7 million to ODA-eligible countries in Europe (of which 97.1% was for Ukraine), accounting respectively for 31.8% and 10.9% of gross bilateral ODA. USD 6 million was allocated to the Middle East. Countries in Africa were also the main recipient of Iceland’s earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations. These allocations are in line with Iceland’s geographic focus and policy priorities.
In 2024, 50.5% of gross bilateral ODA went to Iceland’s top 10 recipients. Top recipients include Iceland’s three priority African partner countries and Ukraine. The share of gross bilateral ODA not allocated by country was 46.6%, of which 17.2% consisted of expenditures for processing and hosting refugees in provider countries.
In 2024, Iceland allocated 0.12% of its GNI to the least developed countries (LDCs). Iceland allocated the highest share of gross bilateral ODA (36.1%) to least developed countries in 2024, noting that 46.6% was unallocated by income group. Additionally, Iceland allocated 25.7% of gross bilateral ODA to land‑locked developing countries in 2024, equal to USD 22.9 million.
The distribution of Iceland’s ODA in net terms in relation to “ODA per person in extreme poverty”2 was USD 0.1 in LDCs and USD 0.1 in upper middle-income countries.
In 2025, Iceland provided USD 16.3 million of net bilateral ODA to Ukraine to respond to the impacts of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion, a 52.3% increase from 2024 in real terms. USD 2.5 million of the amount was humanitarian assistance in 2025, a 28.7% decrease in real terms from 2024.
Support to contexts with high and extreme fragility was USD 36.9 million in 2024, representing 41.4% of Iceland’s gross bilateral ODA. Of this ODA, 18.4% was provided in the form of humanitarian assistance, an increase from 18.3% in 2023, while 7.1% was allocated to peace, a decrease from 7.4% in 2023.
Learn more about the States of Fragility platform.
In 2024, the largest focus of Iceland’s bilateral ODA was social infrastructure and services. Investments in this area accounted for 32.9% of bilateral ODA commitments (USD 29.3 million), with a strong focus on support to health and population (USD 11.1 million), government and civil society (USD 8.4 million) and education (USD 5.1 million). ODA for other macro sectors totalled USD 26.1 million, with a focus on administrative costs of donors (USD 12 million). Humanitarian assistance amounted to USD 12.4 million (13.9% of bilateral ODA). Earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations also focused on social sectors and other macro sectors in 2024.
In the period 2023-2024, Iceland committed 74.6% of screened bilateral allocable ODA to gender equality and women’s empowerment compared to 72.2% in 2021-2022 and a DAC average of 48.2% in 2023-2024. This is equal to USD 52.6 million of screened bilateral allocable ODA in support of gender equality on average per year. In addition:
The share of screened bilateral allocable ODA committed to gender equality and women’s empowerment as a principal objective was 15.6% in 2023-2024, compared with the DAC average of 4.2%.
Iceland includes gender equality objectives in 75.5% of ODA for humanitarian aid, above the 2023‑2024 DAC average of 21.5%.
Iceland screens all bilateral allocable ODA against the DAC gender equality policy marker (100% in 2023-2024).
Iceland committed USD 900 thousand of ODA to end violence against women and girls, and USD 3.3 million to support women’s rights organisations and movements, and government institutions on average per year in 2023-2024.
Learn more by reading the DAC Recommendation on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of All Women and Girls in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Assistance and the DAC Recommendation on Ending Sexual Exploitation in Development Co-operation, and by exploring the development finance for gender equality dashboard.
In 2023-2024, Iceland committed 50.9% of its total bilateral allocable ODA (USD 35.9 million) in support of the environment and the Rio Conventions, up from 41.7% in 2021-2022. The DAC average was 39%. In addition:
14.8% of screened bilateral allocable ODA focused on environmental issues as a principal objective, compared with the DAC average of 11.2%.
41.1% of total bilateral allocable ODA (USD 29 million) focused on climate change overall (the DAC average was 35.4%), up from 35.1% in 2021-2022. Iceland had a greater focus on adaptation (38.4%) than on mitigation (28.9%) in 2023-2024.
14.3% of screened bilateral allocable ODA (USD 10.1 million) focused on biodiversity overall (the DAC average was 8.6%), up from 8.6% in 2021-2022.
6.9% of screened bilateral allocable ODA (USD 4.9 million) focused on desertification overall (the DAC average was 4.2%), up from 3.9% in 2021-2022.
Learn more about the DAC Declaration on Aligning Development Co-operation with the Goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
The OECD's tracking of ODA for the sustainable ocean economy shows that Iceland committed USD 1.2 million in support of the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean in 2024, USD 2.5 million less than in 2023. The 2024 value is equivalent to 1.7% of Iceland's bilateral allocable ODA.
In 2024, Iceland:
Allocated 16.2% of its bilateral ODA (USD 14.4 million) to core poverty-reducing sectors as defined by Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1.a.1. This indicator captures grants to basic social services (such as basic health and education, water supply and sanitation, multisector aid for basic social services) and development food aid. In addition, 0.3% of bilateral ODA (USD 300 thousand) went to social protection support. Learn more by exploring the Reducing poverty and inequalities through ODA data explainer.
Committed USD 23.5 million (34.1% of its bilateral allocable ODA) to address the immediate or underlying determinants of malnutrition in developing countries across a variety of sectors, such as emergency response, health and education.
Committed USD 31.5 million (45.7% of its bilateral allocable ODA) to development co-operation projects and programmes that promote the inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities.
Regarding the payment of local tax and customs duties for ODA-funded goods and services, Iceland does not typically seek exemptions nor does it make information available on the OECD Digital Transparency Hub on the Tax Treatment of ODA.
Committed USD 12.5 million (18.2% of its bilateral allocable ODA) to promote aid for trade and improve developing countries’ trade performance and integration into the world economy in 2024. Learn more by exploring the Aid for Trade dashboard.
In 2024, total official and private flows from Iceland to developing countries amounted to USD 110.2 million in net terms. Official sources accounted for USD 110.2 million, with no funding originating from private sources.
Total official support for sustainable development (TOSSD) is an international statistical standard that monitors and increases the transparency of all official and officially supported resources for financing the SDGs received by developing countries (Pillar 1) and for addressing global challenges (Pillar 2). In 2024, activities reported by Iceland as TOSSD totalled USD 112.8 million, marking a 6% decrease compared with the previous year. Iceland’s TOSSD activities mostly targeted SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 3 (good health and well-being) and SDG 5 (gender equality).
Activity-level data on TOSSD by recipient are available at: https://tossd.online.
In October 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) underwent an institutional reorganisation, with two separate directorates in charge of international affairs and policy and development co-operation. While the Directorate of International Affairs and Policy manages the humanitarian assistance portfolio, the Directorate for Development Cooperation oversees bilateral co-operation and CSOs, development policy, co-ordination and multilateral organisations, the environment, energy and the private sector, and ocean affairs. The MFA is working to ensure coherence and co-ordination across the two directorates, particularly to provide a joint response in fragile contexts. The GRÓ Centre for Sustainable Development offers training programmes in Iceland to developing country professionals, focused on Icelandic expertise in gender, geothermal energy, fisheries and land restoration.
In 2022, the MFA had a total of 44 staff working on development co-operation, 20 of which are based at headquarters and 8 in Iceland’s permanent missions in Geneva, New York, Paris and Rome, and the embassies to Malawi, Sierra Leone and Uganda. Iceland can also rely on the expertise of 16 locally recruited staff in its embassies in Malawi and Uganda. In 2025, Iceland was in the process of strengthening its human resources, through recruitment and training.
The main mechanism for consulting stakeholders is the Icelandic Committee for Development Cooperation. Civil society and non-governmental organisations have five representatives that participate in the Icelandic Committee for Development Cooperation, alongside parliamentarians and representatives of the private sector. Regular consultations are held between the Committee for Development Cooperation and the MFA.
The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development placed a renewed emphasis on strengthening the effectiveness of all forms of development co-operation by upholding and elevating the Effectiveness Principles. Adherence to these principles is measured through the partner country-led monitoring exercise of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC).
Notes: The global aggregate results of the 4th GPEDC monitoring round (2023-2026) will be published in the forthcoming 2026 GPEDC Global Monitoring Report. Learn more about partner countries’ participation, progress and country-specific results by exploring the GPEDC Global Dashboard. CRS: Creditor Reporting System; IATI: International Aid Transparency Initiative.
Internal systems and processes help ensure the delivery of Iceland’s development co-operation. The table below highlights select features.
Access the full list of development co-operation providers at: Development Co-operation Profiles.
2023 OECD-DAC Peer Review of Iceland: https://doi.org/10.1787/a1552817-en.
Ministry for Foreign Affairs: https://www.government.is/topics/foreign-affairs/international-development-cooperation.
Iceland has been a member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) since 2013.
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.
This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Member countries of the OECD.
This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.
Note by the Republic of Türkiye
The information in this document with reference to “Cyprus” relates to the southern part of the Island. There is no single authority representing both Turkish and Greek Cypriot people on the Island. Türkiye recognises the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Until a lasting and equitable solution is found within the context of the United Nations, Türkiye shall preserve its position concerning the “Cyprus issue”.
Note by all the European Union Member States of the OECD and the European Union
The Republic of Cyprus is recognised by all members of the United Nations with the exception of Türkiye. The information in this document relates to the area under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus.
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← 1. DAC members adopted the grant-equivalent methodology starting from their reporting of 2018 data as a more accurate way to count the donor effort in development loans. See the methodological notes for further details.
← 2. Aid per person in extreme poverty is calculated by dividing net ODA (bilateral and imputed multilateral) by the population in extreme poverty in each country. It estimates how much ODA each person in extreme poverty would receive if total ODA was divided evenly among the extreme poor. This metric does not measure the amount of ODA actually received by each person in extreme poverty, nor does it measure how much ODA goes to poverty reduction. It instead highlights patterns in total ODA allocations relative to the number of people living in extreme poverty in each country. Group averages are calculated based on a weighted average of aid per person in extreme poverty and the number of people in extreme poverty for each country in the group. See the methodological notes for further details.