Strong increase
Short summary from the OECD’s detailed briefing note on 2022 ODA data. Please note that these figures are preliminary and that the exact and final data, notably for humanitarian ODA, will not be known until December 2023. This is an indicative note.
General data on ODA in 2022
In 2022, official development assistance (ODA) from Development Assistance Committee (DAC) member countries amounted to USD 204.0 billion, with USD 201.4 billion in grants, loans to sovereign entities, debt relief operations and contributions to multilateral institutions, USD 0.8 billion in mechanisms using private sector development instruments and USD 1.7 billion in net lending to private companies operating in ODA countries.
Total ODA has increased by 13.6% in real terms[1] compared to 2021, the fourth consecutive year that ODA has exceeded its previous record level: it represented 0.36% of GNI compared to 0.33% in 2021.
Major expenditures
1.Refugee costs in donor countries
Expenditure on refugee costs in donor countries rose to USD 29.3 billion in 2022, or 14.4% of total DAC ODA.
2. Ukraine
ODA to Ukraine is equivalent to USD 16.1 billion (7.8% total ODA) of which USD 1.8 billion is provided as humanitarian aid.
3. Covid-19
There was a 45% decrease in spending on Covid-19 activities, costing USD 11.2 billion, of which USD 7 billion was for Covid support. Vaccine donations (USD 1.53 billion) show a 74.1% decrease compared to 2021.
4.Projects and programmes, technical assistance and humanitarian aid
Costs for this expenditure increased by 12.7% and humanitarian aid amounted to USD 22.3 billion, up 1% on 2021.
In 2022, the United States remained the largest provider of ODA among DAC member countries (USD 55.3 billion), contributing more than a quarter of total DAC ODA, followed by Germany (USD 35.0 billion), Japan (USD 17.5 billion), France (USD 15.9 billion) and the United Kingdom (USD 15.7 billion). The following countries met or exceeded the UN threshold of 0.7% for ODA/GNI: Germany (0.83%), Denmark (0.70%), Luxembourg (1.00%), Norway (0.86%) and Sweden (0.90%).
Participation of non-DAC suppliers: Turkey (0.79%) and Saudi Arabia (0.74%).
G7 donors provided 75% of total ODA and DAC EU countries 45%.
ODA from the 20 DAC countries that are part of the EU amounted to USD 91.6 billion, which represents an increase of 18.6% in real terms compared to 2021. Total ODA from EU institutions increased by 30.3% in real terms, mainly due to support to Ukraine, some of which was in the form of loans.
To see in detail the increases for each country, click here.
The strong resilience of ODA to crisis situations
ODA has long been seen as a stable source of development finance, which has been able to mitigate the immediate impact of previous financial crises. In 2020 and 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 crisis, many DAC members maintained or increased their ODA budgets in support of developing countries.
In 2022, at 13.6%, the growth rate of ODA was one of the highest ever recorded; only the 2005 rate was higher, when net ODA increased by 32% due to exceptional debt relief operations. The ratio of ODA to GNI has also risen sharply; the last time this ratio reached 0.36% was in 1982.
The OECD has previously demonstrated the reliability and resilience of ODA in the response to the COVID-19 crisis.
See the full preliminary synthesis. Click here.
Synthesised by Inès Legendre.