Accredited official statistics

Statistics on International Development: final UK ODA spend 2024

Updated 26 September 2025

Background

1.1   About this release

This statistical release contains final UK ODA figures for the calendar year 2024. It updates previous provisional UK ODA figures for 2024 published in April 2025. The tables and project-level dataset which accompany the release are available to download in Open Document Format here.

Users should be careful when making comparisons between the calendar year figures reported here with financial year ODA budget allocations^{[footnote 1]} as they are not directly comparable (the latter are financial year and use resource accounting methods whereas Statistics on International Development (SID) is produced on a calendar year and cash flow basis, in line with the OECD Statistical Reporting Directives).

All figures in the report are in current prices (i.e. not adjusted for inflation or changes over time).

Further information on the technical terms, data sources, quality and processing of the statistics in this publication are found in the Background Notes and Annexes 1-3.  For links to other sources of information on UK ODA, see Background Note 9.13.

If you require any other data or information, or if you have any suggestions on how to improve the publication, please contact the statistics team at: statistics@fcdo.gov.uk.

1.2   Key concepts^{[footnote 2]}

Official Development Assistance (ODA)

ODA is an internationally agreed measure of resource flows to developing countries and multilateral organisations, which are provided by official agencies (e.g. the UK Government) or their executive agencies, where each transaction meets the following requirements:

• it is administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its main objective; and
• it is concessional, including grants and soft loans

ODA is measured according to the standardised definitions and methodologies of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC).

Which countries are ODA-eligible?

The list of countries eligible to receive ODA is set by the OECD DAC and comprises those with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita below the World Bank high-income threshold.

It includes all low, lower-middle and upper-middle income countries, except for those that are members of the G7 or the European Union (including countries with a firm accession date for EU membership). The DAC reviews the list every three years. Countries ‘graduate’ if they have surpassed the high-income GNI per capita threshold for the three consecutive years prior to a graduation year.

ODA:GNI ratio

The ODA:GNI ratio presents the total amount of ODA provided by a donor country as a proportion of its Gross National Income (GNI). An ODA:GNI target of 0.7 per cent was first agreed internationally in 1970 by the United Nations General Assembly. The UK government made a commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of GNI on ODA from 2013. The International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015 placed this commitment in domestic legislation. 

The UK spent 0.7 per cent of its GNI on ODA between 2013 to 2020. In 2020, the previous UK government announced a temporary reduction to ODA spend from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of UK GNI from 2021, citing a severe economic downturn as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ODA:GNI ratio temporarily increased to 0.51 and 0.58 per cent in 2022 and 2023 respectively as a result of additional ODA made available^{[footnote 3]} to respond to increased levels of in-donor refugee costs[^4]. In February 2025, the UK government took the decision to reduce ODA spending to the equivalent of 0.3 per cent of GNI by 2027 to fund an increase in defence spending^{[footnote 5]} and has stated its commitment to restoring ODA spending to the level of 0.7 per cent of GNI as soon as fiscal circumstances allow.

2 Key headlines

In 2024…

• UK ODA spend was £14,082 million, a decrease of £1,262 million (8.2 per cent) on 2023

• the final ODA:GNI ratio was 0.50 per cent (i.e. the UK spent 0.50 per cent of its GNI on ODA), compared with 0.58 per cent in 2023.

• UK bilateral ODA spend was £11,273 million (80.1 per cent of total UK ODA) while UK core funding to multilateral organisations was £2,809 million (19.9 per cent of total UK ODA). This is the highest share of bilateral ODA spend and lowest share of multilateral ODA spend (of total UK ODA) to date

• £2,827 million (20.1 per cent of UK ODA) was spent on support to refugees or asylum seekers in donor countries^{[footnote 6]}. This is a £1,446 million decrease compared to 2023 when its share of total ODA was 27.9 per cent

• the largest amount of bilateral ODA was focused on the sectors ‘Refugees in Donor Countries’ (£2,827 million), ‘Humanitarian Aid’ (£1,453 million) and ‘Unallocated/ Unspecified’^{[footnote 7]} (£1,342 million)

• Africa remained the largest recipient of UK region-specific bilateral ODA – accounting for 49.4 per cent (up from 46.4 per cent in 2023). In volume terms, ODA to Africa increased by £652 million (52.9 per cent) to £1,885 million

• the top three recipients of UK country-specific bilateral ODA were Ukraine (£270 million), Afghanistan (£192 million) and Ethiopia (£182 million)

• the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spent £9,469 million (67.2 per cent of total UK ODA) while Non-FCDO ODA spend (by Other Government Departments and other providers of UK ODA) was £4,613 million (32.8 per cent of total UK ODA). This compares to shares of 61.9 per cent (FCDO) and 38.1 per cent (Non-FCDO) in 2023

In 2024 the UK provided £14.08bn of Official Development Assistance

[[Info Graphic]]

3. Total UK ODA and ODA:GNI ratio

This chapter provides an overview of UK ODA in 2024. It presents the total amount of ODA provided by the UK and the ODA:GNI ratio.

Table 1 and Figure 1 show that in 2024:

• UK ODA was £14,082 million, a decrease of £1,262 million (8.2 per cent) on 2023.
• The ODA:GNI ratio was 0.50 per cent, compared with 0.58 per cent in 2023.

The volume of ODA in 2024 reflects the UK government’s commitment to spend 0.5% of GNI on ODA. In the preceding years (2022 and 2023) there was an increase in ODA3 to respond to increased levels of in-donor refugee costs (see Figure 1).

Table 1: Total UK ODA, UK GNI estimates and ODA:GNI ratios (£ million) 2023 to 2024

Year	UK ODA (£ million)	GNI (million)	ODA: GNI ratio (%)
2023	15,344	2,652,321	0.58
2024	14,082	2,825,858	0.50

Figure 1 (below) shows the historical trend in UK ODA[^8], including the decrease in ODA and ODA:GNI ratio in 2021 caused by the reduction in ODA spend from 0.7% to 0.5% of UK GNI and the subsequent fluctuations that have taken place, including the recent decrease in 2024.

Figure 1: UK ODA levels (£ million) and ODA:GNI ratios (%), 1970 to 2024

[[Figure 1]]

Figure 1 legend: Blue bars are UK ODA spend from 1970 to 2024; red line is the ODA:GNI ratio from 1970 to 2024; teal dashed line is the 0.7% ODA:GNI target set by the United Nations General Assembly in 1970; green dashed line shows the 0.5% ODA:GNI ratio, the level around which the UK government has spent ODA since 2021. From 2018, ODA changed from being measured on a cash basis to being measured on a grant equivalent basis, following a decision taken by the DAC in 2014[^9].

4. Total UK ODA by provider and delivery mechanism

This chapter presents a breakdown of UK ODA by government department and other official providers, and by main delivery mechanism.

Figure 2: UK ODA spend by provider (£ million), 2023 and 2024

[[Figure 2]]

Figure 2 legend: FCDO = Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office; HO = Home Office; DHSC = Department of Health & Social Care; DESNZ = Department for Energy Security & Net Zero; UKISF = UK Integrated Security Fund; DSIT = Department for Science, Innovation & Technology; DEFRA = Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; MHCLG = Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government; DWP = Department of Work & Pensions. See Table 3 linked below for the 12 other departments and official sector providers of ODA which make up ‘Other’.

See Table 3 for a detailed breakdown of ODA by official sector provider and comparisons between 2023 and 2024.

Most government departments and other providers saw a decrease in ODA spend between 2023 and 2024. 

• FCDO was the largest provider spending £9,469 million, a small decrease of £22 million (0.2 per cent) compared to 2023. However, FCDO’s share of total ODA increased from 61.9 per cent to 67.2 per cent
• Home Office was the second highest provider, spending £2,390 million, a decrease of £565 million (19.1 per cent) compared to 2023. This was driven by a decrease in ODA-eligible support costs for asylum seekers

Other departments with large decreases were Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which spent £98 million, a decrease of £368 million (78.9 per cent) and Department of Work and Pensions, which spent £95 million, a decrease of £163 million (63.3 per cent). This was largely due to less arrivals into the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, Ukraine Extension Scheme and Ukraine Family Scheme. 

A small number of government departments saw an increase in ODA in 2024.  These were Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, which spent £214 million (up £47 million, 28.4 per cent), UK Integrated Security Fund, which spent £386 million (up £60 million,18.4 per cent) and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, which spent £186 million (up £21 million, 12.5 per cent).

4.1 UK ODA by delivery mechanism

There are two main channels of delivery for ODA: bilateral and multilateral.

• Bilateral ODA: ODA provided for a specific purpose (normally a particular country, region or sector) which is for specific projects in developing countries or delivered via partners. e.g. UK funding to an NGO to deliver humanitarian assistance in Syria. See Chapter 5 for a breakdown of UK bilateral ODA by countries and regions and Chapter 6 for a breakdown by sector

• Multilateral ODA: ODA that is given directly to the core budget of a multilateral organisation without specifying where or how it should be spent. It is pooled with other donors’ funding. e.g. UK core funding to the International Development Association (IDA). See Chapter 7 for a breakdown of UK multilateral ODA

Figure 3 shows that in 2024, £11,273 million of UK ODA was delivered through bilateral channels, a 12.7 per cent increase (£1,269 million) compared to 2023.

£2,809 million was delivered through core contributions to multilateral organisations. This was a decrease of 47.4 per cent (£2,531 million) from a peak in multilateral spending in 2023 to the lowest level since 2009.  Multi-year multilateral payment profiles are variable and were particularly so in 2022 and 2023, primarily due to FCDO decisions to move several large multilateral ODA payments between years to accommodate the increase in in-donor refugee costs and the additional £2.5 billion resource in 2022/23 and 2023/243. This led to a subsequent reduction in multilateral payments in 2024.

There has been an increase in the share of UK ODA delivered through bilateral channels (from 65.2 per cent in 2023 to 80.1 per cent in 2024), whilst the share delivered through multilateral channels has decreased (from 34.8 per cent in 2023 to 19.9 per cent in 2024). This is the highest share of bilateral ODA spend and lowest share of multilateral ODA spend (of total UK ODA) to date.

Figure 3: Total UK ODA by main delivery channel (£ million), 2020 to 2024

Figure 3 legend: Total UK ODA by main delivery channel. The bars for each year represent 100% of total UK ODA spend. The dark blue section represents the proportion of total UK ODA delivered through ‘Bilateral’ channels. The teal section represents the proportion of total UK ODA that was channelled as core contributions to multilaterals, ‘Multilateral’.

[^4]: The OECD DAC’s definition of ODA-eligible in-donor refugee costs can be found here: [In-donor refugee costs in official development assistance (ODA)

OECD](https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/sub-issues/oda-eligibility-and-conditions/in-donor-refugee-costs-in-official-development-assistance-oda.html).

[^8] For a more detailed description of the trend see p10 of Statistics on International Development Final UK aid spend 2022 (publishing.service.gov.uk).

[^9] For information on the difference between the Grant Equivalent measure and the historical cash measurement please see background note 9.7.

1. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office – Annual Report and Accounts 2024–2025. ↩

2. A glossary, explaining key terms used throughout this report, is available in Annex 1. ↩

3. In the Autumn Statement 2022 the previous government announced additional ODA resources of £2.5 billion over 2022-23 and 2023- 24, stating these funds were to help meet the significant and unanticipated costs incurred in supporting the people of Ukraine and Afghanistan to escape oppression and conflict and find refuge in the UK. ↩

4. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/prime-ministers-oral-statement-to-the-house-of-commons-25-february-2025. ↩

5. OECD DAC Statistical Reporting Directives, page 34. ↩

6. The majority (96.7 per cent) of this ODA spend is Private Sector Instruments (PSI). PSI are financial tools—like loans, equity investments, and guarantees—used by governments to support private businesses in developing countries. See “Bilateral ODA by sector” chapter for further information on PSI. ↩