- Policy
- ODA allocation overview
- ODA to and through the multilateral system
- Bilateral ODA
- Geographic, sectoral and thematic focus of ODA
- Private sector instruments
- Mobilised private finance
- Total Official Support for Sustainable Development
- Institutional set-up
- Quality and oversight
- Other profiles
- Additional resources
Development Co‑operation Profiles: United Kingdom
Table of contents
In July 2024, the United Kingdom elected a new government. The government led by the Labour Party is pursuing a mission statement of “a world free from poverty on a liveable planet”, based on modern, mutually beneficial partnerships. The United Kingdom has retained the significant changes to its development co‑operation architecture and policy over recent years, including the creation of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union (EU). The United Kingdom’s total official development assistance (ODA) decreased in 2024 to USD 18 billion (preliminary data), representing 0.5% of gross national income.
This profile presents verified data on development assistance allocation. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
The United Kingdom aims to pursue “a world free from poverty on a liveable planet, based on modern, mutually beneficial partnerships”. In 2024, the FCDO commissioned three strategic reviews to enhance the United Kingdom’s global impact, support growth, and maximise diplomatic and development expertise in international development. Following the announcements of additional budget cuts in 2025, the strategic direction of the United Kingdom’s development co-operation is being finalised.
The 2023 mid-term review found that the United Kingdom had made good progress on two of the ten recommendations made in the 2020 Peer Review and some progress against a further six, such as on policy coherence, whole-of-government or private finance’s poverty focus. It found that recent institutional changes and the new international development white paper provide opportunities that enable the United Kingdom to play a leading role in international development. However, it also found that the benefits of an integrated development and diplomacy ministry have not yet been realised and capacity constraints persisted. The review suggests a greater focus on ODA quality and poverty reduction and encourages stronger cross-governmental engagement and coherent policies as important to deliver on the United Kingdom’s development aspirations. Discover insights from the United Kingdom’s 2023 mid-term review and 2020 Peer Review, and learn from the United Kingdom’s practices in Development Co-operation Tools Insights Practices (TIPs).
The United Kingdom provided USD 18 billion (preliminary data) of ODA in 2024 (USD 17 billion in constant terms), representing 0.5% of GNI.1 This was decrease of 10.8% in real terms in volume and a decrease in the share of GNI from 2023. On 25 February 2025 the Prime Minister announced that the United Kingdom would reduce ODA spending from 0.5% of gross national income (GNI) to 0.3% in 2027 in order to fully fund increased investment in defence. The United Kingdom's 2023 ODA to GNI proportion was in line with its stated objective to spend around 0.5% of GNI on ODA on a temporary basis. Still, it did not meet its target and international commitment to spend 0.7% ODA/GNI ratio. The United Kingdom has committed to return to a 0.7% ODA/GNI ratio when two fiscal tests are met on a sustainable basis. However, budget cuts in 2025 and 2026 will take spending down to 0.3% GNI by 2027, reflecting a dramatic change in ODA allocation. Within the United Kingdom’s ODA portfolio in 2023, 99.9% was provided in the form of grants and 0.1% in the form of non-grants.2
In 2024, the United Kingdom ranked fourth in terms of ODA volume among Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members and ninth among DAC member countries when ODA is taken as a share of GNI. In-donor refugee costs represented 43.8% of the United Kingdom’s gross bilateral ODA in 2023. Among DAC members, the United Kingdom provided the highest share of private sector instruments to least developed countries (LDCs) and other low-income countries (LICs) (11.1%) in 2023. It also had the highest percentage of gross bilateral ODA disbursements to the humanitarian pillar of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus in fragile contexts in 2022 (43.8%).
The United Kingdom has committed to several international targets and DAC standards and recommendations. Learn more about DAC Recommendations.
Note: This table only includes information about ODA data-related DAC Recommendations. ODA: official development assistance; GNI: gross national income; DAC: Development Assistance Committee.
The United Kingdom provided a higher share of its ODA bilaterally in 2023. Gross bilateral ODA was 64.3% of total ODA disbursements. Seventeen per cent of gross bilateral ODA was channelled through multilateral organisations (earmarked contributions).
In 2023, the United Kingdom provided USD 8.8 billion of gross ODA to the multilateral system, an increase of 33.9% in real terms from 2022. Of this, USD 6.7 billion was core multilateral ODA (35.7% of total ODA), while USD 2.1 billion 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 16% of the United Kingdom’s non-core contributions and 84% was programmatic funding (to pooled funds and specific-purpose programmes and funds).
The United Nations (UN) system received 20% of the United Kingdom’s contributions to multilateral organisations, mainly through earmarked contributions of USD 1.1 billion (59.9%). Out of a total volume of USD 1.8 billion to the UN system, the top three UN recipients of the United Kingdom’s support (core and earmarked contributions) were the United Nations Children’s Fund (USD 277.7 million), the World Food Programme (USD 257.9 million) and the World Health Organization (USD 190.2 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 dashboard on DAC members’ use of the multilateral system.
In 2023, the United Kingdom’s bilateral spending declined compared to the previous year. It provided USD 12.1 billion of gross bilateral ODA (which includes earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations). This represented a decrease of 6.8% in real terms from 2022.
In 2023, country programmable aid amounted to USD 2.1 billion, or 17.6% of the United Kingdom’s gross bilateral ODA, compared to the DAC country average of 43.1%. In-donor refugee costs were USD 5.3 billion in 2023 representing 43.8% of the United Kingdom’s gross bilateral ODA. This was an increase of 7.9% in real terms over 2022.
In 2023, the United Kingdom channelled its bilateral ODA mainly through public sector, multilateral organisations and non-governmental organisations. Technical co-operation made up 3.6% of gross ODA in 2023.
In 2023, civil society organisations (CSOs) received USD 1.4 billion of gross bilateral ODA, of which 4.9% was directed to developing country-based CSOs. Overall, 3.2% of gross bilateral ODA was allocated to CSOs as core contributions and 8.2% was channelled through CSOs to implement projects initiated by the donor (earmarked funding). From 2022 to 2023, the combined core and earmarked contributions for CSOs remained steady as a share of bilateral ODA, at 11.4%. Learn more about the DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid.
In 2023, the United Kingdom’s bilateral ODA primarily focused on countries in Africa. USD 1.5 billion was allocated to countries in Africa and USD 616.9 million to countries in Asia (excluding the Middle East), accounting respectively for 12.1% and 5.1% of gross bilateral ODA. USD 450 million was allocated to the Middle East. Africa was also the main regional recipient of the United Kingdom’s earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations.
In 2023, 11.6% of gross bilateral ODA went to the United Kingdom’s top 10 recipients. Its top 3 recipients are Ukraine, Ethiopia and Afghanistan, reflecting the United Kingdom’s broad geopolitical priorities. There is a mix across the United Kingdom’s top 10 recipients, from fragile states such as Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen and Somalia to middle income countries such as Brazil and Pakistan. The share of gross bilateral ODA not allocated by country was 79.1%, of which 55.4% consisted of expenditures for processing and hosting refugees in provider countries.
In 2023, the United Kingdom allocated 0.13% of its GNI to LDCs. The United Kingdom allocated the highest share of gross bilateral ODA (9.9%) to least developed countries in 2023 equal to USD 1.2 billion, noting that 79.1% was unallocated by income group. Additionally, the United Kingdom allocated 5.8% of gross bilateral ODA to land-locked developing countries in 2023, equal to USD 703.4 million. The United Kingdom also allocated 0.6% of gross bilateral ODA to small island developing states (SIDS) in 2023, equal to USD 77.7 million.
Looking at the distribution of the United Kingdom’s ODA in relation to “ODA per person in extreme poverty”,3 the amounts were USD 5.7 in LDCs, USD 4.9 in lower middle-income countries (LMICs) and USD 11.5 in upper middle-income countries.
In 2024, the United Kingdom provided USD 303.7 million of net bilateral ODA to Ukraine to respond to the impacts of Russia’s full-scale invasion, a 7.5% decrease from 2023 in real terms. USD 102 million of the amount was humanitarian assistance in 2024, a 44.7% decrease from 2023.
Support to contexts with high and extreme fragility was USD 1.7 billion in 2023, representing 14.2% of the United Kingdom’s gross bilateral ODA. Thirty-three per cent of this ODA was provided in the form of humanitarian assistance, a decrease from 43.8% in 2022, while 13% was allocated to peace, a decrease from 14% in 2022. Six per cent of gross bilateral ODA went to conflict prevention, a subset of contributions to peace, representing an increase from 4.5% in 2022. Learn more about the OECD States of Fragility platform.
In 2023, the largest focus of the United Kingdom’s bilateral ODA was on in donor refugee costs. Investments in this area accounted for 43.7% of bilateral ODA commitments (USD 4.1 billion), predominantly support to refugees in donor countries (USD 3.8 billion) and development food assistance (USD 77.6 million). ODA for social infrastructure and services totalled USD 2.3 billion, with a focus on health and population (USD 1.1 billion). ODA spending reported as multi-sector amounted to USD 1 billion (11% of bilateral ODA). Earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations focused on social sectors and production sectors in 2023.
In the period 2022-23, the United Kingdom committed 61.4% of screened bilateral allocable ODA to gender equality and women’s empowerment, compared to 68.6% in 2020-21,4 and a DAC average of 45.8% in 2022-23. This is equal to USD 2.8 billion 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 11.4% in 2022-23, compared with the DAC average of 4%.
The United Kingdom includes gender equality objectives in 70.8% of ODA for humanitarian aid, above the 2022-23 DAC average of 19.1%.
The United Kingdom screens the majority of bilateral allocable ODA activities against the DAC gender equality policy marker (86.6% in 2022-23).
The United Kingdom committed USD 98.1 million of ODA to end violence against women and girls and USD 50.2 million to support women’s rights organisations and movements, and government institutions on average in 2022-23.
Learn more about 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 dashboard on DAC members’ development finance for gender equality.
In 2022-23, the United Kingdom committed 36% of its total bilateral allocable ODA (USD 1.9 billion) in support of the environment and the Rio Conventions, down from 37.5% in 2020-21. The DAC average was 39% in 2022-23. In addition:
Twenty-one per cent of screened bilateral allocable ODA focused on environmental issues as a principal objective, compared with the DAC average of 9.6%.
Twenty-three per cent of total bilateral allocable ODA (USD 1.2 billion) focused on climate change overall, down from 34.8% in 2020-21 (the DAC average was 34.8%). The United Kingdom had a greater focus on mitigation (34.5%) than on adaptation (24.7%) in 2022-23.
Fifteen per cent of screened bilateral allocable ODA (USD 579.9 million) focused on biodiversity overall, up from 4% in 2020-21 (the DAC average was 7.6%).
Learn more about the DAC Declaration on Aligning Development Co-operation with the Goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Note: Individual Rio Markers should not be added up as this can result in double counting.
The OECD’s tracking of ODA for the sustainable ocean economy shows that the United Kingdom committed USD 111.5 million in support of the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean in 2023, USD 63.1 million more than in 2022. The 2023 value is equivalent to 2% of the United Kingdom’s bilateral allocable ODA.
In 2023, the United Kingdom:
Allocated 3.4% of its bilateral ODA (USD 413.7 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) and development food aid. In addition, 1% of bilateral ODA (USD 121.9 million) went to social protection support.
Committed USD 634.2 million (11.5% 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 population policies/programmes and reproductive health.
Committed USD 17.8 million (0.3% of its bilateral allocable ODA) to the mobilisation of domestic resources in developing countries. Regarding the payment of local tax and customs duties for ODA-funded goods and services, the United Kingdom does not seek exemptions. It does not have a general policy; however, it makes information available on the OECD Digital Transparency Hub on the Tax Treatment of ODA.
Committed USD 1.1 billion (20% of its bilateral allocable ODA) to promote aid for trade and improve developing countries’ trade performance and integration into the world economy in 2023. The United Kingdom is among the top 10 official providers of aid for trade globally.
Committed USD 1.5 billion (28.1% of its bilateral allocable ODA) to development co-operation projects and programmes that promote the inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities.
To build markets in developing countries and incentivise greater mobilisation of private resources for development, many providers, including the United Kingdom, have established development finance institutions and similar vehicles that extend private sector instruments (PSI). British International Investment (BII), Mobilising Finance for Forests (MFF), Mobilising Institutional Capital Through Listed Product Structures (MOBILIST), the United Kingdom India Development Cooperation Fund and FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) were assessed as ODA-eligible PSI vehicles. PSI represented 2.1% of the United Kingdom’s ODA in 2023 while the DAC average stood at 1.3%.
In 2023, the United Kingdom’s BII, MFF, MOBILIST, FSDAi extended USD 1.7 billion in the form of PSI to developing countries.5 Of this, loans accounted for 36.4% whereas equities accounted for 48.9%. Other PSI included mezzanine finance instruments.
In 2023, USD 184.1 million (10.7%) of the United Kingdom’s PSI were allocated to the LDCs and other LICs, with a majority (54.1%) allocated to middle-income countries and LMICs in particular (30%). USD 602.4 million was unallocated by income. The United Kingdom’s PSI primarily supported projects in the banking and financial services (44.2%) and energy (24.8%) sectors.
The United Kingdom uses leveraging mechanisms to mobilise private finance for sustainable development. In 2023, the United Kingdom’s BII, FSD Africa (FSDA), FCDO mobilised USD 1.6 billion from the private sector through simple co-financing, shares in collective investment vehicles, direct investment in companies and special purpose vehicles, guarantees, credit lines, and syndicated loans. This constituted a 35.4% decrease compared to 2022.
Private finance mobilised by the United Kingdom in 2022-23 mainly targeted middle-income countries, representing 51.8% of its total mobilised. Only 3.6% of total mobilised private finance during this period benefited the LDCs and other LICs, noting that 44.6% was unallocated by income.
Mobilised private finance by the United Kingdom in 2022-23 related mainly to activities in energy (31.4%) as its top sector. Furthermore, over this period, 39% of the United Kingdom’s total mobilised private finance was for climate action.
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 SDGs in developing countries, as well as for addressing global challenges. In 2023, activities reported by the United Kingdom as TOSSD totalled USD 20.9 billion, up from USD 19.7 billion in 2022. The United Kingdom’s TOSSD activities mostly targeted SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 5 (gender equality) and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities). Activity-level data on TOSSD by recipient are available at: https://tossd.online.
Since September 2020, the FCDO has managed the bulk of the United Kingdom’s ODA. Under a dedicated whole-of-government approach, several departments are active in development co-operation and specific cross-government funds exist. The FCDO seeks to maximise the benefits of the merger of diplomacy and development into one department, notably with the Minister for International Development attending Cabinet, a second permanent secretary in the FCDO to oversee development priorities, and a new FCDO-HM Treasury governance structure to improve the oversight of all ODA spending. The International Development Committee in parliament continues to be responsible for scrutiny of UK aid and ODA expenditure, including by the FCDO, and taking forward the work of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact. Additionally, BII is the United Kingdom’s development finance institution, focusing on mobilising private capital for development in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
The FCDO employs 17 326 staff in its diplomatic and development offices worldwide. Roughly half are UK‑based civil servants, whose careers typically include roles both in the United Kingdom and overseas. Around half of them are employed locally in other countries. The FCDO has ten full-time staff working at BII.
The United Kingdom draws upon the expertise of the private sector, civil society and academia to advise and challenge its implementation of the international development policy. UK-based CSOs active in development co-operation, humanitarian assistance and global citizenship education co-ordinate under the umbrella body BOND.
Internal systems and processes help ensure the effective delivery of the United Kingdom’s development co-operation. Select features are shown in the table below.
Access the full list of providers at this link: Development Co-operation Profiles.
2020 OECD-DAC Peer Review of the United Kingdom: https://doi.org/10.1787/43b42243-en
2023 OECD-DAC United Kingdom mid-term review letter: https://one.oecd.org/document/DCD/DAC/AR(2024)3/17/en/pdf
International development in a contested world: Ending extreme poverty and tackling climate change, a white paper on international development: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-development-in-a-contested-world-ending-extreme-poverty-and-tackling-climate-change
Integrated Review Refresh 2023: Responding to a more contested and volatile world: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/integrated-review-refresh-2023-responding-to-a-more-contested-and-volatile-world
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO): https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/foreign-commonwealth-development-office
British International Investment (former CDC Group), the United Kingdom’s development finance institute: https://www.bii.co.uk
CSO platform Bond: https://www.bond.org.uk
The United Kingdom’s practices on the Development Co-operation TIPs: Tools Insights Practices learning platform: https://www.oecd.org/development-cooperation-learning?tag-key+partner=united+kingdom#search
The United Kingdom has been a member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) since 1961.
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.
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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. Non-grants include sovereign loans, multilateral loans, equity investment and loans to the private sector.
← 3. 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. 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. For more information on this indicator, please see here.
← 4. The use of the recommended minimum criteria for the marker by some members in recent years can result in lower levels of ODA reported as being focused on gender equality.
← 5. In 2023, the DAC agreed on revised reporting methods for measuring PSI in ODA based on ODA grant equivalents. Members may, however, take up to two years to transition to the new methods, with their PSI continuing to be accounted for on a net ODA basis during the transition period.