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Overseas aid from wealthy countries plummeted by 23 per cent in 2025 compared to 2024, with Germany overtaking the US to become the world\u2019s biggest aid donor for the first time, new figures show. <\/p>\n
The data, published by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), confirms the devastating impact of the closure of the US Agency for International Development (USAID)<\/a>, which previous studies have indicated will contribute to tens of millions of deaths<\/a>. <\/p>\n Overall aid from the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) \u2013 a core group of aid donors comprised of the world\u2019s 34 richest nations \u2013 fell by 23.1 per cent to $174.3bn (\u00a3129.8bn). <\/p>\n The US alone drove three-quarters (75.1 per cent) of the decline, while major cuts were also reported by other big donors including Germany (17.4 per cent), France (10.9 per cent), the United Kingdom (10.8 per cent), and Japan (5.6 per cent).<\/p>\n The extremely steep decline in funding from the US meant that Germany provided more aid ($29.1bn) than the US ($29bn) for the first time in history. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Bilateral aid fell by 26.4 per cent from the DAC countries, while multilateral aid \u2013 which goes to global institutions like the UN \u2013 fell by 12.7 per cent. <\/p>\n The UN<\/a> notably suffered its largest annual decline in funding on record, with a budget cut worth 27 per cent, driven by a 87.2 per cent year-on-year cut that the US has made to its UN budget contribution.<\/p>\n The US also cut its bilateral aid to Ukraine by a massive 91.1 per cent. However, this was offset by other DAC countries and the EU increasing the aid directed towards Ukraine, which ensured that the $44.9bn that Ukraine ultimately received exceeded the bilateral aid that was provided to all the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. <\/p>\n Overall aid provided to Sub-Saharan Africa fell by 26.3 per cent to $24.5bn, while aid to the world\u2019s least developed countries similarly fell 25.8 per cent to hit $23.5bn. <\/p>\n \u201cToday’s figures confirm that we are witnessing the steepest and most widespread contraction in ODA [Official Development Assistance] in a generation,\u201d Mikaela Gavas, managing director for the Center for Global Development Europe, told The Independent. <\/p>\n \u201cWith a second consecutive year of decline and the four largest donors all cutting simultaneously for the first time in nearly thirty years, it is a structural shift in how wealthy countries are choosing to engage with the world’s poorest.\u201d<\/p>\n Callum Northcote, economic justice lead at Save the Children UK, added: “This is yet another example of the realities now facing the world’s children. <\/p>\n \u201cThe UK’s decision to cut aid has poured fuel on the fire of global decision-making. This will have real world impact for health centres, for schools, for the ability to treat malnutrition<\/a> and keep children safe \u2013 an impact that is becoming clearer as the specifics of the cuts are laid bare.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n The decline of 23.1 per cent follows a decline of 6.1 per cent recorded in 2024 \u2013 and the OECD currently projects that foreign aid will decline by a further 5.8 per cent next year. <\/p>\n \u201cThree consecutive years of decline in overseas aid is something we have not seen since 1993 to 1993, during the period of the end of the Cold War,\u201d said Mar\u00eda del Pilar Garrido Gonzalo, OECD Director for Development Co-operation, on a webinar held to mark the release of the data. <\/p>\n \u201cThese projections do not yet account for the potential impact of the current crisis in the Middle East<\/a>, which could represent an additional shock after two years of overseas aid cuts,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n Speaking on the same webinar, chair of the DAC Committee Carsten Staur suggested that the sheer number of humanitarian disasters that the world is currently experiencing<\/a> means that foreign aid should be increasing, not decreasing.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are still more than 800 million people living for less than $3 a day \u2013 two-thirds of whom live in Sub Saharan Africa \u2013 and millions of children still die every year before the age of five for reasons that are easily preventable,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cThere is no substitute for overseas aid in this fundamental endeavour of investing in human relief, in health, education and social protection. Overseas aid remains an essential investment in global solidarity, in viable international partnerships and alliances, and in longer term resilience and security.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n