Development Co‑operation Profiles: Postcode Lottery Group
Table of contents
The Postcode Lottery Group unites public charity lotteries administered by the social enterprise Novamedia. Of the six lotteries operating in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, five provide support to organisations working for development, namely the Dutch Postcode Lottery, German Postcode Lottery, Norwegian Postcode Lottery, Swedish Postcode Lottery and People’s Postcode Lottery (UK).
The Postcode Lottery Group organises and oversees charity lotteries with the aim of raising funds to support grassroots initiatives and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that work towards a healthier, fairer, and more sustainable world.
This profile presents verified data on development assistance allocation. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
Postcode Lottery Group provided USD 331.6 million for development in 2023 through its grantmaking activities. Compared to 2022, the amounts remained stable in real terms. Grants represented 100% of the Postcode Lottery Group’s gross disbursements.
In 2023, the Postcode Lottery Group channelled its bilateral development finance mainly through NGOs (USD 293.3 million) and multilateral organisations (USD 31.5 million).
In 2023, Postcode Lottery Group provided USD 31.5 million to the multilateral system, representing 9.5% of its total development finance. All of which was earmarked for specific countries, regions, themes or purposes. The entirety of these multilateral contributions was channelled through United Nations (UN) funds,programmes and organisations.
The UN system received USD 31.5 million from Postcode Lottery Group in 2023. The most significant UN recipients were UNICEF (USD 20.1 million), UNOHCR (USD 10 million) and WFP (USD 1.5 million).
See the section on Geographic and thematic focus of ODA for the breakdown of bilateral allocations, including ODA earmarked through the multilateral development system.
In 2023, civil society organisations (CSOs) received USD 293.3 million of the Postcode Lottery Group’s gross bilateral finance, of which 0.2% was directed to developing country-based CSOs. Overall, almost three-quarters (72.7%) were allocated to CSOs as core support, while 15.7% was earmarked to specific projects or programmes. From 2022 to 2023, the combined core and earmarked contributions for CSOs decreased as a share of bilateral ODA, from 89.9% to 88.4%.
Learn more about the DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid.
In 2023, Postcode Lottery Group’s development finance was primarily focused on Africa and Asia (excluding the Middle East). USD 23.9 million was allocated to Africa and USD 10.2 million to Asia (excluding the Middle East), accounting respectively for 7.2% and 3.1% of gross bilateral development finance. A sum of USD 290.8 million (87.7%) was unspecified by region in 2023, mainly including multi-regional programmes, core support and research grants. In this context, USD 11.2 million was provided in support of refugees and asylum-seekers in donor countries.
In 2023, 5.9% of gross development finance went to the top 10 recipients, most notably Afghanistan, Myanmar, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia.
Least developed countries (LDCs) and other low-income countries (LICs) received respectively USD 15.4 million (4.7%) and USD 1.1 million (0.3%) of Postcode Lottery Group’s gross disbursements in 2023. Postcode Lottery Group allocated the highest share (4.7%) of its bilateral development finance to least developed countries in 2023, followed by upper middle-income countries (1.8%), noting that USD 304 million (91.7%) was unallocated by income group.
Furthermore, Postcode Lottery Group allocated USD 9.6 million of its development finance to landlocked developing countries in 2023, and USD 600 thousand to small island developing states (SIDS) in 2023. The main SIDS recipient is Cabo Verde.
In 2023, Postcode Lottery Group provided USD 400 000 of gross development finance to Ukraine to respond to the impacts of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Support to contexts with high and extreme fragility reached USD 18.8 million in 2023, representing 5.7% of Postcode Lottery Group’s bilateral development finance. Of this, contexts with extreme fragility received a sum of USD 8 million.
Learn more about the OECD States of Fragility platform.
In 2023, Postcode Lottery Group’s largest allocations went to social infrastructure and services. Investments in this area accounted for 34.9% of bilateral commitments (USD 115.7 million). Humanitarian assistance amounted to USD 114.5 million. Bilateral contributions allocated to multi-sector and other macro-sectors amounted to USD 68 million and 23 million respectively, with a strong focus on general environmental protection.
In 2023, Postcode Lottery Group committed the largest shares of its contributions to SDG 10 (reduced inequalities), SDG 3 (good health and well-being) and SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Support to SDG 5 (gender equality) amounted to USD 80.9 million. Contributions to SDG 13 (climate action) totalled USD 94.7 million.
Access the full list of providers at this link: Development Co-operation Profiles.
Official website: https://www.postcodelotterygroup.com
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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