Accredited official statistics

Statistics on International Development: provisional UK aid spend 2023

Published 10 April 2024

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Note 1: The ODA:GNI ratio for both 2022 and 2023 were above 0.5%, reflecting an additional £2.5 billion of ODA provided through the Autumn Statement 2022 over 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024.

Note 2: The FCDO share for 2019 and 2020 are the combined shares of former-DFID and former-FCO.

Data in summary box:

Headline figures:

  • in 2023, the UK provided £15.4 billion of Official Development Assistance (ODA)
  • the ODA:GNI ratio for 2023 was 0.58%, compared to 0.51% in 2022 [note 1]
  • in 2023, £4.3 billion (27.9%) of total UK ODA was spent supporting refugees in the UK, an increase of £600 million from 2022

UK Official Development Assistance (ODA): 1970 to 2023

UK ODA from 1970 to 2023. The line starts at £186 million in 1970 and ends at its highest point of £15,374 million in 2023. Overall, the line shows that there has been a steady increase in the level of UK ODA since 1970, with a peak in 2005 and 2006 which was driven by high levels of debt relief, and a steep increase in 2013 when the UK Government first met the 0.7 per cent ODA:GNI target. The line continues to increase between 2013 and 2019 in line with growth in the UK’s GNI and the 0.7 per cent commitment. The line peaks in 2016 which reflects the switch to the European System of Accounts (ESA) 2010 methodology for measuring GNI and the consequent increase in UK ODA to meet the 0.7 per cent ODA commitment on that basis. The line shows that the level of UK ODA fell between 2020 and 2021 due to the government’s decision to spend 0.5 per cent of GNI on ODA compared to 0.7 per cent but the line increases in 2022 and again in 2023 due growth in the UK’s GNI as well as the additional £2.5 billion ODA resources made available across 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Percentage breakdown of UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) by contributor: 2019 to 2023

In 2023, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) [Note 2] share of total ODA increased while the non-FCDO share decreased, compared to 2022. This follows consecutive decreases in FCDO’s share of total ODA since 2018.

Contributor 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) 77.7% 73.7% 71.6% 59.7% 61.6%
Other government departments (OGD) 17.8% 19.0% 24.7% 37.7% 36.3%
Other 4.6% 7.3% 3.7% 2.6% 2.1%

Other government departments (OGDs) with total Official Development Assistance (ODA) over £200 million: 2023

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) was the largest contributor of UK ODA, spending £9,471 million. In 2023, there were 6 other government departments (OGDs) that each spent more than £200 million of UK ODA. Of these, the Home Office was the largest contributor.

Other government department Total spending (£)
Home Office £2,955 million
Department of Health and Social Care £546 million
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities £466 million
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero £440 million
Conflict, Stability and Security Fund £352 million
Department for Work and Pensions £257 million

FCDO’s Region-Specific Bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA): 2023

In 2023, Africa received the largest volume of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s bilateral ODA to a specific region, as well as an increased share compared to the other regions.

Region %
Africa 52.4%
Asia 30.8%
Europe 12.3%
Americas 4.4%
Pacific Less than 1%

UK’s ODA by delivery channel: 2019 to 2023

In 2023 the share of UK ODA delivered through core contributions to multilaterals increases from 24.6% in 2022 (its lowest share to date) to 35.9%. The share delivered via bilateral channels decreases from 75.4% in 2022 to 64.1% in 2023. The 2023 shares align more closely with those pre-2022.

Year Bilateral (%) Multilateral (%)
2023 64.1% 35.9%
2022 75.4% 24.6%
2021 63.3% 36.7%
2020 65.8% 34.2%
2019 68.6% 31.4%

1. About this release

1.1 What is Official Development Assistance (ODA)?

Official Development Assistance (ODA) is provided according to the standardised definitions and methodologies of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC)[footnote 1]. ODA is defined as resource flows to developing countries and multilateral organisations, which are provided by official agencies (eg 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[footnote 2]

1.2 Which countries are ODA eligible?

The list of countries eligible to receive ODA is set by the OECD DAC. Gross National Income (GNI) per capita data by the World Bank is used to define the coverage and boundaries of the list. The list of eligible countries 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.

1.3 What is in this report?

This publication provides provisional statistics about the amount of ODA the UK provided in 2023. It also provides comparisons with 2022 spend. It includes:

  • total UK ODA as a proportion of GNI (the ODA:GNI ratio) (chapter 2)
  • total UK ODA delivered through bilateral and multilateral channels (chapter 3)
  • a breakdown of UK ODA by contributor chapter 4)
  • region-specific bilateral ODA broken down by region (FCDO only) (chapter 5)
  • non-region specific bilateral ODA broken down by Type of Aid[footnote 3] (FCDO only) (chapter 6)

The figures presented in this publication are provisional and based on summary data with limited sector[footnote 3] and geographical breakdowns.  A final estimate of UK ODA, the ODA:GNI ratio and more detailed breakdowns of UK ODA will be published in September 2024 in ‘Statistics on International Development: Final UK Aid Spend 2023’ (Final SID)[footnote 4]. Figures may change between the provisional and final publications mainly due to further quality assurance which is carried out on the more detailed data.

1.4 What else is included as part of Statistics on International Development?  

All data tables included in this report are available to download in spreadsheet format. If you require any other data or information relating to this publication, or if you have any suggestions on how to improve the publication, please contact the statistics team at: statistics@fcdo.gov.uk. Further information on the technical terms, data sources, quality and processing of the statistics in this publication are found in Annexes 1-3 on the Statistics on International Development webpage.

Key points

  • the provisional ODA:GNI ratio for 2023 was 0.58 per cent, compared to 0.51 per cent in 2022.  The ODA:GNI ratio for both 2022 and 2023 is above 0.5 per cent, reflecting an additional £2.5 billion of ODA provided through the Autumn Statement 2022 over 2022to 2023 and 2023 to 2024[footnote 5]
  • in 2023, UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) was £15,374 million, an increase of £2,589 million (20.2 per cent) on 2022. This is the highest level of ODA spent by the UK[footnote 6], similar to the last peak in 2019 when the UK spent £15,176 million
  • in 2023, £4,297 million of ODA was in the form of in-donor refugee costs in the UK (27.9 per cent of total UK ODA). This represents a £607 million increase in terms of volume compared to 2022 but a slight decrease in terms of overall share (down from 28.9 per cent of total UK ODA)
  • the UK spent £888 million of bilateral ODA on humanitarian assistance in 2023, a decrease of £221 million (19.9 per cent) from £1,109 million in 2022
  • in 2023, £5,517 million of UK ODA was delivered through core contributions to multilaterals, a 75.4 per cent increase (£2,371 million) compared to 2022. The volume of UK ODA delivered through bilateral channels was broadly similar (a 2.3 per cent, £218 million increase) to 2022.  The relative shares of bilateral and multilateral ODA are similar to those seen prior to 2022
  • the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spent £9,471 million in 2023 compared with £7,635 million in 2022 (an increase of £1,836 million). Its share of total UK ODA also increased, from 59.7 per cent in 2022 compared to 61.6 per cent in 2023
  • whilst the volume of FCDO’s bilateral ODA to Africa stayed broadly similar to the volume in 2022 (a slight decrease of 0.8 per cent, £8.5 million), the volume of FCDO’s bilateral ODA to all other regions reduced. The most notable reduction was to Asia (33.1 per cent, £306 million). As a result, the share of FCDO’s region-specific ODA benefitting Africa increased from 42.9 per cent in 2022 to 52.4 per cent (£1,054 million) in 2023, whilst all other regions’ shares decreased

2. The ODA:GNI ratio

The ODA:GNI ratio presents the total amount of UK ODA as a proportion of UK Gross National Income (GNI).

Key background: the UK’s ODA:GNI ratio

From 2013 to 2020

The 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 the commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of GNI on ODA in UK law from 2015 and in each subsequent calendar year.

The UK spent 0.7 per cent of UK GNI on ODA between 2013 to 2020.

2021 onwards

In 2020, the UK government announced[footnote 7] a temporary reduction to ODA spend from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of GNI, citing a severe economic downturn as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic[footnote 8]. The UK government committed to returning to spending 0.7 per cent when the fiscal situation allowed.

In July 2021, the government set out[footnote 9] the two key tests that must be met on a sustainable basis in the fiscal forecast produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) before ODA spending can return to 0.7 per cent:

  1. First, when the UK government are not borrowing to support day-to-day spending.
  2. Second, when underlying debt is falling.

Until the tests are met, the government’s plans assume ODA spending will be around 0.5 per cent of GNI. Once ODA spending has returned to 0.7 per cent of GNI, the tests will no longer apply, and ODA spending will be maintained at 0.7 per cent of GNI each year.

In the 2023 Autumn Statement the government stated that the independent OBR forecasts showed that the principles for a return to 0.7 per cent GNI confirmed by Parliament in 2021 had not been met for 2024-25. In accordance with the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015, the government will continue to review and confirm each year whether a return to spending 0.7 per cent of GNI on ODA is possible, with spending assumed at around 0.5 per cent of GNI until then.  Once ODA spending has returned to 0.7 per cent of GNI, the tests will no longer apply and ODA spending will be maintained at 0.7 per cent of GNI each year.

Table 1 shows that in 2023:

  • the ODA:GNI ratio was 0.58 per cent
  • UK ODA was £15,374 million, an increase of £2,589 million (20.2 per cent) on 2022
  • the ODA:GNI ratio for both 2022 and 2023 is above 0.5%, reflecting the additional £2.5 billion of ODA provided through the Autumn Statement 2022 over 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to2045[footnote 5]. The increase in ODA spend was also partially due to growth in the size of the economy (GNI)

Table 1: UK GNI[footnote 10] estimates, total UK ODA and ODA:GNI ratios; current prices (£ million) 2022 to 2023 (provisional)

2022 GNI £ million 2022 ODA £ million 2022 ODA:GNI ratio % 2023 GNI £ million 2023 ODA £ million 2023 ODA:GNI ratio %
2,505,567 12,786 0.51 2,652,321 15,374 0.58

Note: Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Figure 1 shows the trend in UK ODA since 1970. Overall there has been a steady increase in the level of UK ODA since 1970, with a peak in 2005 and 2006 which was driven by high levels of debt relief, and a steep increase in 2013 when the UK Government first met the 0.7 per cent ODA:GNI target.

A commitment to spend a percentage of UK GNI (a key economic measure) on ODA means that when GNI increases/decreases, in turn UK ODA will also increase/decrease. Between 2013 and 2019, UK ODA continued to increase in line with growth in the UK’s GNI and the 0.7 per cent commitment. The relatively larger increase in the level of ODA in 2016 (by £1,242 million) reflects the switch to the European System of Accounts (ESA) 2010 methodology for measuring GNI and the consequent increase in UK ODA to meet the 0.7 per cent ODA commitment on that basis.

The level of UK ODA fell between 2020 and 2021 due to the government’s decision to spend 0.5 per cent of GNI on ODA compared to 0.7 per cent but increased in 2022 and again in 2023 due to growth in the UK’s GNI as well as the additional £2.5 billion ODA resources made available across 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024.

Figure 1: UK ODA levels (£ millions) and ODA:GNI ratios (%), 1970 to 2023

Figure 1 legend: The blue bars are the UK ODA spend from 1970 to 2023 (note the 2023 ODA figure is provisional), the red line is the calculated ODA:GNI ratio from 1970 to 2023 and the grey dashed line is the 0.7% ODA:GNI target set by the United Nations General Assembly in 1970. From 2018 onwards, ODA has 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[footnote 11].

Figure 1 data:

UK ODA: 1970 to 2023
Year UK net ODA (£ million) ODA:GNI ratio (%)
1970 186 0.36
1971 231 0.4
1972 243 0.38
1973 246 0.34
1974 307 0.4
1975 388 0.39
1976 487 0.39
1977 638 0.44
1978 763 0.46
1979 1,016 0.51
1980 797 0.35
1981 1,081 0.43
1982 1,028 0.37
1983 1,061 0.35
1984 1,070 0.33
1985 1,180 0.33
1986 1,185 0.31
1987 1,142 0.28
1988 1,485 0.32
1989 1,578 0.31
1990 1,485 0.27
1991 1,815 0.32
1992 1,848 0.31
1993 1,945 0.31
1994 2,089 0.31
1995 2,029 0.29
1996 2,050 0.27
1997 2,096 0.26
1998 2,332 0.27
1999 2,118 0.24
2000 2,974 0.32
2001 3,179 0.32
2002 3,281 0.31
2003 3,847 0.34
2004 4,302 0.36
2005 5,926 0.47
2006 6,770 0.51
2007 4,921 0.36
2008 6,356 0.43
2009 7,301 0.51
2010 8,529 0.57
2011 8,629 0.56
2012 8,802 0.56
2013 11,407 0.70
2014 11,700 0.70
2015 12,136 0.70
2016 13,377 0.70
2017 14,051 0.70
2018 14,542 0.70
2019 15,176 0.70
#2020 14,478 0.70
2021 11,423 0.50
2022 12,786 0.51
2023 15,374 0.58

3. UK bilateral and multilateral ODA

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

  • bilateral ODA is earmarked spend. This means that the donor has specified where and what the ODA is spent on – this is usually ODA going to specific countries, regions, or programmes. For example, delivering family planning services across Malawi through a Non-Government Organisation. Bilateral ODA also includes earmarked spend through multilaterals
  • multilateral ODA is un-earmarked core funding from national governments to multilateral organisations, which is pooled with other donors’ funding and disbursed as part of the core budget of the multilateral organisation. For example, the UK’s un-earmarked contribution to the World Bank International Development Association. Core contributions fluctuate from year to year in part due to the payment schedules of the receiving multilateral organisation

Table 2: Provisional total UK net ODA: by delivery channel (bilateral, multilateral), 2022 and 2023

Delivery channel 2022 £ million 2022 % total ODA 2023 £ million 2023 % total ODA Change since 2022 £ million Change since 2022 %
Total bilateral ODA 9,640 75.4% 9,857 64.1% 218 2.3%
of which humanitarian assistance: 1,109 8.7% 888 5.8% -221 -19.9%
Total multilateral ODA 3,146 24.6% 5,517 35.9% 2,371 75.4%
Total ODA 12,786 100.0% 15,374 100.0% 2,589 20.2%

Note: Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Table 2 and Figure 2 show that in 2023:

  • £9,857 million of UK ODA was delivered through bilateral channels, a 2.3 per cent increase (£218 million) compared to 2022
  • £5,517 million of UK ODA was delivered through core contributions to multilaterals, a 75.4 per cent increase (£2,371 million) compared to 2022. Several factors contributed to this: multi-year multilateral payment profiles are often quite variable and were particularly so in 2022 and 2023, primarily due to FCDO decisions to move several large multilateral ODA payments between years in order to manage the calendar year ODA commitments in 2022 and 2023 - meaning that some payments were moved from 2022 into 2023 (causing a reduction in ODA delivered via multilateral core contributions in 2022 and an increase in 2023) and some payments were moved from future years into 2023[footnote 12] (further contributing to the increase in 2023)
  • there has been a decrease to the share of UK ODA delivered through bilateral channels (from 75.4 per cent in 2022 to 64.1 per cent in 2023), whilst the share of UK ODA delivered through multilateral channels has increased (from 24.6 per cent to 35.9 per cent). This is similar to the shares seen prior to 2022

Figure 2: Total UK net ODA: by delivery channel, 2017 to 2023 (provisional)

Figure 2 data:

Year Bilateral (£) Bilateral % Multilateral (£) Multilateral % Grand total (£)
2017 8,795,074 62.6% 5,256,167 37.4% 14,051,240
2018 9,229,040 63.5% 5,312,977 36.5% 14,542,017
2019 10,403,338 68.6% 4,772,317 31.4% 15,175,655
2020 9,531,563 65.8% 4,945,381 34.2% 14,476,944
2021 7,233,908 63.3% 4,188,720 36.7% 11,422,629
2022 9,639,677 75.4% 3,146,008 24.6% 12,785,685
2023 9,857,222 64.1% 5,517,248 35.9% 15,374,470

In addition:

  • £888 million of bilateral ODA was in the form of humanitarian assistance (5.8 per cent of total UK ODA), a decrease of £221 million from 2022 (Table 2). More granular detail on UK bilateral ODA spend will be available in the ‘Statistics on International Development: Final UK Aid Spend 2023’ publication in September 2024

4. Breakdown of UK ODA by contributor

Table 3 shows a breakdown of UK ODA by UK government department and other UK official sector contributors in 2023. It also shows changes in spend from 2022. The analysis presented in the table is based on summary provisional returns from government departments and other sources.

Contributors of UK ODA in 2023

  • FCDO spent £9,471 million of ODA (61.6 per cent of total UK ODA) in 2023, an increase of £1,836 million (or 24.0 per cent) compared to 2022
  • ODA delivered by all contributors other than FCDO (known as non-FCDO) totalled £5,904 million (38.4 per cent of total UK ODA) in 2023, an increase of £753 million (or 14.6 per cent) compared to 2022. Of this:
    • ODA delivered by government departments other than FCDO (known as other government departments) totalled £5,586 million in 2023, an increase of £762 million (15.8 per cent) compared to 2022
    • spend by other contributors of UK ODA totalled £318 million in 2023, a decrease of £9 million (or 2.9 per cent) compared to 2022
  • the largest increases in the latest year’s spend amongst non-FCDO contributors were:
    • Home Office, which spent £2,955 million of ODA in 2023, an increase of £559 million (23.3 per cent). This was driven by an increase in ODA eligible support costs for asylum seekers in the UK. See Supplementary Table 1 for more detail
    • Department for Energy Security and Net Zero[footnote 13], which spent £440 million of ODA in 2023, an increase of £136 million
  • the largest decreases amongst non-FCDO contributors were:
    • Department for Science, Innovation and Technology which spent £167 million of ODA in 2023, a decrease of £83 million
    • Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, which spent £466 million of ODA in 2023, a decrease of £58 million

Table 3: UK ODA contributors 2022, 2023; ordered by 2023 provisional ODA spend

2022 £ million 2022 % UK ODA 2023 £ million 2023 % UK ODA Change since 2022 £ million Change since 2022 %
Total Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office 7,635 59.7% 9,471 61.6% 1,836 24.0%
Of which: EU attribution 532 4.2% 432 2.8% -101 -18.9%
Total non-FCDO 5,151 40.3% 5,904 38.4% 753 14.6%
Sub-total Other Government Departments 4,824 37.7% 5,586 36.3% 762 15.8%
Home Office 2,397 18.7% 2,955 19.2% 559 23.3%
Department of Health and Social Care 465 3.6% 546 3.6% 81 17.4%
Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities 524 4.1% 466 3.0% -58 -11.0%
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero 304 2.4% 440 2.9% 136 44.7%
Conflict, Stability and Security Fund 314 2.5% 352 2.3% 39 12.3%
Department for Work and Pensions 171 1.3% 257 1.7% 86 50.5%
Department for Education 218 1.7% 179 1.2% -40 -18.1%
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs 90 0.7% 168 1.1% 78 86.7%
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology 250 2.0% 167 1.1% -83 -33.3%
HM Revenue & Customs 27 0.2% 34 0.2% 7 27.2%
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports 4 0.0% 10 0.1% 6 143.1%
Ministry of Defence 4 0.0% 4 0.0% 0 3.9%
Office for National Statistics 3 0.0% 4 0.0% 1 25.5%
HM Treasury 3 0.0% 4 0.0% 0 8.7%
Cabinet Office 51 0.4% 0 0.0% -51 -100.0%
Department for Transport [low] 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -100.0%
Sub-total Other contributors of UK ODA 327 2.6% 318 2.1% -9 -2.9%
Gift Aid 170 1.3% 165 1.1% -5 -2.9%
Other In-Donor Refugee Costs [note 2] 109 0.9% 109 0.7% 0 -0.3%
BBC World Service 29 0.2% 28 0.2% -2 -6.5%
Scottish Government 16 0.1% 15 0.1% -1 -7.4%
Welsh Government 2 0.0% 1 0.0% -1 -43.2%
Colonial Pensions administered by FCDO 1 0.0% 1 0.0% 0 -13.9%
Total UK Net ODA 12,786 100.0% 15,374 100.0% 2,589 20.2%

Note 1. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Note 2. This includes estimated ODA eligible health and education in-donor refugee support costs which have been administered by the devolved governments using geographic data and applying the same unit costs as England.

Contributors’ share of UK ODA

  • in 2023 the FCDO accounted for 61.6 per cent of UK ODA, up from 59.7 per cent in 2022
  • the share of total ODA delivered by contributors other than FCDO decreased from 40.3 per cent in 2022, to 38.4 per cent in 2023

Of the non-FCDO contributors, Other government departments’ (OGD) ODA accounted for 36.3 per cent of total UK ODA in 2023, compared to 37.7 per cent in 2022 when this was their largest share on record. The departments with the largest shares of ODA were: the Home Office (19.2 per cent of total UK ODA), the Department for Health and Social Care (3.6 per cent), and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (3.0 per cent).

Other contributors of UK ODA accounted for 2.1 per cent of total UK ODA, a decrease from 2.6 per cent in 2022. See table 3 for details.

In-donor refugee costs

[footnote 14]

In-Donor Refugee Costs (IDRC) are defined by the OECD DAC as costs incurred in a donor country for certain support to asylum seekers and refugees from developing countries during the first 12 months of their stay.  This includes payments for refugees’ transport to the host country and temporary sustenance (food, shelter and training).

  • £4,297 million of total UK ODA was spent on IDRC in the UK (27.9 per cent of total UK ODA). This represents a £607 million increase compared to 2022 (Figure 3), though the share of total ODA reduced slightly from 28.9 per cent. The majority of the increase in 2023 was due to Home Office spend. More detail can be found in Supplementary Table 1 of the accompanying Excel tables

  • in recent years, all of the UK’s IDRC has been incurred in the UK.  In 2023, a small amount of UK IDRC spend (less than £100 thousand) was incurred by FCDO in other donor countries.  This is not included in the figures above

Figure 3. UK ODA supporting refugees/asylum seekers in the UK: 2019 to 2023

Figure 3 data (£ billion):

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Total in-donor refugee costs in the UK £0.5 £0.6 £1.1 £3.7 £4.3
In-donor refugee spend in the UK as proportion of total ODA 3.1% 4.3% 9.2% 28.9% 27.9%

5. FCDO bilateral ODA

This chapter presents high level information about FCDO’s bilateral ODA spend in 2023. Similar data from all other contributors of UK ODA is not available for this provisional release but will be presented in ‘Statistics on International Development: Final UK Aid Spend 2023’ in September 2024, alongside more detailed, country-level information.

Bilateral ODA by region includes spend which has been identified as benefitting either a single region or country/countries within a single region (referred to in this report as ‘region-specific’). It excludes spend that benefits multiple regions. 

Non region-specific bilateral ODA consists of spend on projects which cannot be identified as benefitting either a single region, or countries within a single region (eg a project which benefits several developing countries across multiple regions, or ODA spend that takes place within the UK, for example scholarships, ODA-eligible administrative costs).

Figure 4. FCDO bilateral ODA: 2022 and 2023 (provisional)

Figure 4 data:

FCDO Bilateral ODA breakdown 2022 2023
Region-specific £2,474 million £2,011 million
Non-region specific £2,133 million £2,136 million
Total £4,607 million £4,147 million

FCDO bilateral ODA by region

  • figure 4 shows that the total volume of FCDO bilateral ODA decreased by £460 million (10 per cent) to £4,147 million between 2022 and 2023. Within that, the volume of FCDO bilateral ODA identified as benefitting a single region was £2,011 million, a decrease of £463 million from 2022
  • figure 5 provides a breakdown of FCDO’s region-specific bilateral ODA and shows:
    • FCDO bilateral ODA identified as benefitting Africa was £1,054 million, which is broadly similar to the level in 2022 (down 0.8 per cent, £8.5 million from 2022).
    • FCDO bilateral ODA identified as benefitting Asia was £619 million (down £306 million, 33.1 per cent from 2022)
    • FCDO bilateral ODA identified as benefitting Europe was £248 million (down £87 million, 25.9 per cent from 2022)
  • the share of FCDO’s region-specific bilateral ODA to Africa increased from 42.9 per cent in 2022 to 52.4 per cent in 2023, whilst all other regions’ shares decreased: Asia’s from 37.4 per cent to 30.8 per cent; Europe’s from 13.5 per cent to 12.3 per cent; Americas’ from 5.9 per cent to 4.4 per cent; and Pacific from 0.3 per cent to 0.04 per cent

Figure 5. FCDO region-specific bilateral ODA, 2022 and 2023

Figure 5 data:

Region 2022 2022 % Region-specific ODA 2023 2023 % Region-specific ODA
Africa £1,063 million 42.9% £1,054 million 52.4%
Asia £925 million 37.4% £619 million 30.8%
Europe £335 million 13.5% £248 million 12.3%
Americas £145 million 5.9% £89 million 4.4%
Pacific £7 million 0.3% £ 1 million 0.0%

6. Non region-specific bilateral ODA

Figure 4 (above) shows that non region-specific bilateral ODA spend[footnote 15] by FCDO was £2,136 million in 2023, a small increase of £3 million compared to 2022. This accounted for 51.5 per cent of FCDO’s total bilateral ODA spend, up from 46.3 per cent in 2022.

Figure 6 illustrates the “types of aid”[footnote 16] which make up the FCDO’s non region-specific bilateral ODA.  Project-type interventions (20.9 per cent) and in-donor expenditure (17.5 per cent) represent the largest shares.

Figure 6: Breakdown of FCDO’s non region-specific bilateral ODA in 2023

Figure 6 data:

Non region-specific bilateral ODA %
Project-type interventions (including multi-region/ centrally managed programmes) 20.9%
In-donor expenditure 17.5%
Specific programmes / funds managed by international organisations 7.6%
Core support to NGOs and other private bodies 4.0%
Other 1.5%

7. Background notes

7.1. Definitions and sources

  1. Information on the main definitions and sources used in this publication can be found in Annexes 2 and 3 (PDF, 279 KB) respectively, of the Statistics on International Development publication.

  2. UK ODA figures for this publication are derived from:

  • FCDO’s Hera system of financial transactions relating to payments and receipts, which was fully operationalised in 2023 and is quality assured centrally to ensure that data is complete and spend is in line with OECD definitions of ODA. 2023 was the first full year the FCDO used the Hera system to record and report its ODA spend, though it had already been used for part of 2022 ODA reporting. The FCDO data comprises 62 per cent of total UK ODA in 2023. Background note 7.7 has more information on the quality assurance of data from the Hera finance system
  • non-FCDO sources are largely derived from financial transaction data. ODA contributors also assess whether the spend is in line with the OECD definitions of ODA. A small proportion of non-FCDO spend is estimated, for example Gift Aid on ODA eligible activity. These non-FCDO sources account for around 38 per cent in 2023

7.2. Scope

3. This publication presents information on the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend in calendar year 2023. Comparisons are made to calendar year 2022. It includes data from UK government departments as well as the Devolved Administrations of the UK and other contributors to UK ODA such as Gift Aid. Data relating to both Bilateral and Multilateral ODA are included in the scope of this publication.

4. This publication does not include information on:

  • private spending or donations made in support of developing countries, for example by the public, the voluntary sector or through remittances, are not part of the ODA definition and not covered in this publication

  • financial Year ODA budget allocations, which are set by HM Treasury. Users are advised to use caution when making comparisons between the calendar year figures reported in SID with financial year ODA budget allocations

7.3. ODA spending and reporting

5. FCDO and HM Treasury monitor spend by UK departments and funds, and movements in GNI during the year. The UK ODA commitment is reported in the calendar year following the spend, using confirmed ODA outturn spend, and GNI estimates published by the Office for National Statistics.

6. While FCDO manages its own spending on ODA, FCDO has no control over GNI nor the spending by other government departments and other sources of ODA. After final decisions on UK ODA spending are made the GNI estimate can still shift, due to later economic data for the year becoming available. So can the amount of ODA spent by other government departments and ODA contributions from non-departmental sources.

7. Between the spring and the autumn, the previous year’s ODA totals of FCDO and other government departments are finalised. Government departments other than FCDO will provide project-level details that allow the ODA spend to be quality assured by FCDO. The ONS will release further updates of GNI throughout the year. The final ODA data and the most up-to-date available GNI estimate are then used to calculate the final ODA:GNI ratio in the autumn publication.

8. FCDO is responsible for collating data and reporting spend on ODA to the Organisation of Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD), including the ODA:GNI ratio.

7.4. EU attribution

9. The provisional estimate for the UK’s share of the EU ODA spend in 2023 was £432 million compared to £532 million in 2022. The UK’s share of the EU attribution fluctuates from year to year due to the speed of programme delivery, the total share of EU external programming spend that is classified as ODA and fluctuations in exchange rates. In addition to the normal fluctuations, the decrease in 2023 reflects the UK’s shrinking residual contributions to the EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014 to 2020 budget.  Under the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK committed to meet outstanding contributions from the 2014-2020 EU budget including external action, development and humanitarian aid programming. This means a declining tail of ODA contributions until around 2030, which is part of the wider financial settlement in the Withdrawal Agreement

7.5. Grant equivalent measure

10. From 2018 onwards, Official Development Assistance (ODA) has changed from being measured on a cash basis to a grant equivalent basis, following a decision taken by the DAC in 2014. This change in measure affects official loans to sovereign states and development multilaterals. See our technical note (PDF, 345 KB) for more information.

11. The headline grant equivalent measure of UK ODA for 2023 was £15,374 million, compared to £15,013 million on the cash basis measurement (a difference of 2.4 per cent).

12. The difference is due to official loan reflows not being included under the grant equivalent measure.

7.6. Revisions and changes to the publication

13. The revisions process is set out in FCDO’s Revisions Policy (PDF, 86 KB).  This Provisional publication contains revised data for 2022 which has been updated since the Final SID publication was released in September 2023.  Further details of the revisions can be found in the revisions statement at Statistics on International Development: Final UK Aid Spend 2022.

Accessibility

14. We have reformatted the summary tables which accompany the publication to ensure that they are fully assessable for use with screen readers and keyboard only navigation. This is in line with The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications).

15. If you need any of the information published as part of the SID collections (SID 2023 or historical) in a different format, please contact us on statistics@fcdo.gov.uk.

7.7. Future developments

16. FCDO’s new finance system “Hera” was implemented during 2022 and 2023 is the first full year of ODA reporting which has used data solely from the new system. A dedicated statistician worked on the shift between the former DFID and FCO systems to assess the impact of the new system on our statistics and ensure that FCDO ODA data can be consistently collected and reported in line with the OECD DAC directives.  The assurance process is ongoing as teams across FCDO adjust to the new system and we will update our ‘assessment of assurance of administrative data’ (Annex 3 (PDF, 268 KB)) to provide more information about the quality assurance of ODA data on the Hera system alongside Final SID 2023 in the autumn.

17. FCDO is defined as a multi-purpose agency by the OECD, as it carries out both ODA and non-ODA activities. FCDO statisticians have produced a suitable interim methodology that captures the ODA-eligible proportion of FCDO administration costs and is in line with the OECD DAC ODA reporting directives. Information on this methodology can be found in our explanatory note here (PDF, 220 KB). The methodology has been applied from April 2021 and was expected to be used on an interim basis whilst the Hera system was being fully implemented and tested. This has now happened. We plan to review the methodology over summer 2024 and update the explanatory note later this year.

18. The ODA statistics team will keep users informed via the SID gov.uk page of any changes or improvements to FCDO ODA statistics.

7.8. Timing and releases

19. FCDO releases two editions of Statistics on International Development each year:

  • provisional UK Aid spend is published in the spring and includes a preliminary estimate of the UK’s ODA:GNI ratio for the previous calendar year. This is usually early April each year
  • final UK Aid spend is usually published in the autumn. This publication confirms the UK’s ODA:GNI ratio for the previous year, as well as including more detailed analysis of the UK’s Bilateral and Multilateral ODA, and includes the microdata used to produce the publication. The latest edition of this publication can be found on Statistics on International Development Final 2022 (PDF, 5.4 MB)

20. Provisional 2023 ODA statistics for all members of the OECD will be published by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) on 11th April 2024. Final data is normally published by the OECD in December.

7.9. Quality

21. The DAC sets the definitions and classifications for reporting on ODA internationally. These are laid out in the DAC Statistical Reporting Directives. The statistics shown here are reported in line with these directives and are subject to the quality assurance process as described in Annex 3 (PDF, 242KB) of Statistics on International Development.

22. The data in the publication is largely based on administrative data and so it is not subject to sampling error. However, these provisional statistics may change between now and the final release in Autumn 2024 as the data is further audited and assured as part of the closing of accounts and statistical quality assurance processes.

In-donor refugee costs

23. The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) states 5 clarifications for defining what in-donor refugee costs can be considered ODA in statistical reporting. The United Kingdom adheres to these principals to preserve ODA integrity and allow comparability between countries.

24. The UK’s methodology for estimating in-donor refugee costs is published here (PDF, 343 KB) .

25. The OECD provide ODA breakdowns for DAC donors (including multilaterals). This source is useful when carrying out international comparisons.

26. The Development Tracker can be used to explore details of the individual development projects that the UK is funding. This allows you to filter projects by country and sector and view further details about the project as published in documents such as the business case and annual review. The tracker uses open data on development projects, compliant with the International Aid Transparency Initiative standard, to show where funding by the UK Government and its partners is going and ‘trace’ it through the delivery chain.

7.11. Uses and users

27. The main purpose of these statistics is to provide timely summary statistics on ODA expenditure by the UK. They are published prior to the release of provisional ODA statistics by the OECD DAC for all OECD members.

28. Responses from our short user feedback survey in May 2021 show that our largest user groups include expert analysts/technical users, policy influencers and information foragers (see definitions of each personas on the ONS website](https://style.ons.gov.uk/category/writing-for-the-web/personas/)). Our users use the SID primarily to find out which countries and sectors receive UK ODA, the bilateral/multilateral split of UK ODA and the amount of ODA spent by each government department.

29. An important part of National Statistics production is assessing whether a product continues to meet user needs. The ODA statistics team are currently reviewing the SID to identify areas to develop further, as well as testing how best to present and communicate ODA trends. So far, the SID has been peered reviewed by other statisticians. The team has also gathered information on the users of SID and their data needs via short user feedback surveys launched in April 2021 and November 2022. More information on the development plans and user engagement opportunities will be published on the statistics gov.uk page throughout 2024.

30. The team always welcomes the opportunity to understand further how our readers are using the SID products and data. You can provide feedback by contacting us by email at statistics@fcdo.gov.uk.

7.12. National statistics

31. The Office for Statistics Regulation (part of the United Kingdom Statistics Authority) designated these statistics as National Statistics in March 2016, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. Designation means the statistics carry the National Statistics label and conform to the standards summarised below.

32. Office for Statistics Regulation published their findings from the compliance check of SID carried out during 2023 which confirmed that it is designated a National Statistics.

33. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is now responsible for producing the Statistics on International Development statistical series, the designation of National Statistics carries through to the new Department.

34. For information on the work of the UK Statistics Authority visit: http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk

8. Contact

For enquiries (non-media) about the information contained in this publication, or for more detailed information, please contact: Jacqueline Robertson

Telephone: 07768 90 42 27

E-mail: statistics@fcdo.gov.uk

Website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/foreign-commonwealth-development-office/about/statistics

For media enquiries please contact the FCDO Press Office on +44 (0)20 7008 3100.

For further information on development issues and FCDO policies, please contact the Public Enquiry Point on 020 7008 5000.

  1. The full OECD DAC ODA directives, including the full ODA definition can be found on their website. ↩

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

  3. “Type of aid” (also known as co-operation modality) and “Sector” are based on OECD DAC definitions.  For more information see: http://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/dacandcrscodelists.htm ↩ ↩2

  4. Once released the publication will be available on the ‘Statistics at FCDO’ webpage. ↩

  5. In the Autumn Statement 2022 the UK 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.  ↩ ↩2

  6. In current prices. ↩

  7. See the Government statement. ↩

  8. The International Development Act 2015 highlights possible circumstances where the 0.7 per cent target is not met and the accountability mechanisms that are triggered when the FCDO Annual Report is laid in parliament See Section 2(3) of the International Development Act. ↩

  9. Paragraphs 4.8 and 4.9: Spring Statement 2022. ↩

  10. Explanatory note on GNI use. ↩

  11. For information on the difference between the Grant Equivalent measure and the historical cash measurement please see background note 7.5. ↩

  12. In December 2023 Minister Mitchell wrote to the International Development Committee, referencing FCDO’s plan to bring forward multilateral spend into 2023 to manage the calendar year commitment ↩

  13. In 2023 there was a machinery of government (MOG) change that split the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy into three new departments; the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). ↩

  14. https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/refugee-costs-oda.htm ↩

  15. This includes an estimate of FCDO’s ODA-eligible administrative costs which is calculated using an interim methodology while we finalise the approach using FCDO’s finance system Hera. We plan to review and finalise the methodology over summer 2024 and update the explanatory note later this year. See para 17 in the background note below for more information. ↩

  16. For more information on these types of aid (also known as “co-operation modality by the OECD DAC) see: http://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/dacandcrscodelists.htm ↩

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