ODA is financial support from official providers to aid recipients (low- and middle-income countries) in areas such as health, sanitation, education, and infrastructure. It mainly consists of either grants or “soft” loans and it makes up over two thirds of external finance for least-developed countries.
Official development assistance (ODA)
Official development assistance (ODA) is government aid that promotes and specifically targets the economic development and welfare of developing countries. ODA has been the main source of financing for development aid since it was adopted by the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) as the “gold standard” of foreign aid in 1969. The OECD is the only official source of reliable, comparable, and complete statistics on ODA.
Key messages
The DAC List of ODA-eligible recipients shows all countries and territories meeting the criteria to receive ODA. These consist of all low- and middle-income countries based on gross national income (GNI) per capita as published by the World Bank, excluding former G8 members, EU members, and countries with a firm date for entry into the EU. The list also includes all Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as defined by the United Nations (UN). It is reviewed every three years by the DAC.
The DAC tracks and monitors ODA so that individual donor efforts are measured alongside the broader development finance landscape. The OECD ensures that providers adhere to the primary objective of ODA - namely the economic development and welfare of aid recipients - and informs them about where their ODA should go relative to existing needs.
Context
International aid experienced its largest ever contraction in 2025
ODA from DAC member countries amounted to USD 174.3 billion in 2025, a 23.1% decrease over 2024. It is the largest annual contraction on record and a second consecutive year of decline, bringing ODA to where it stood at the start of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Cuts to ODA in 2025 hit bilateral aid and UN funding hardest
Bilateral ODA fell by 26.4% to USD 126.4 billion, while multilateral ODA declined by 12.7% to USD 47.9 billion. Within bilateral ODA, grants recorded a sharper decrease (-29.1%) than loans (-10.3%). For multilateral ODA, which fell for the second year in a row, declines were concentrated in core contributions to the UN system (-27%), the largest annual drop on record. In contrast, contributions to the World Bank and regional development banks increased.
The outlook of ODA suggests further cuts
The OECD projects a further 5.8% decline in net ODA in 2026, not yet accounting for the additional strain from the current crisis in the Middle East.
