Today the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC)  published the full details of how much Official Development Assistance (ODA) was disbursed in 2022, and, crucially, where it went. The data shows that while total reported ODA rose to an all-time high of US$ 211bn in 2022, the percentage of ODA that was spent in donor countries also increased. In response to the announcement, María José Romero, Policy and Advocacy Manager for Development Finance at Eurodad said:

“Not only is there little to celebrate in today’s final 2022 ODA figures, it is hugely problematic that donor countries are continuing to turn inwards and become recipients of their own aid, even in this time of multiple and interconnected crises. We urgently need greater ambition and political will to preserve the integrity of ODA and fulfil the long-standing commitment to allocate 0.7 percent of GNI to ODI.

“The increased percentage of ODA spent on in-country donor refugee costs represents a significant amount of ODA (US$ 31 billion) that never left donor countries, resulting in inflated aid. As a result, people across the global south are left with far less resources than they needed. And it’s clear from today’s revised figures that we will continue to see aid resources diverted from countries and regions in the global south when the preliminary figures for 2023 are released in April.

“This year, over half the world’s population will go to the polls, including for the European Parliament. This is a key moment for governments and elected officials to recommit to fulfilling their development commitments, and for the electorate to hold them accountable.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• Foreign aid from DAC member countries rose to an all-time high of US$211 billion in 2022, according to new figures released by the OECD DAC.

• The percentage of ODA spent on in-country donor refugee costs increased from 14.4 to 14.6 per cent of total aid, or US$31 billion.

• Total ODA aid levels in 2022 stood at just 0.37 per cent of GNI

• Donors owed US$ 6.5 trillion in undelivered aid between 1970 and 2021 (See Oxfam press release dated 12 April 2023. Available at https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/obscene-percent-aid-going-back-pockets-rich-countries.) 

• According to UN DESA, 238 million people - roughly equivalent to the combined populations of Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal and the UK - could not afford to buy sufficient food last year.

• One out of every four developing countries will still be poorer than they were in 2019, according to new World Bank data.

Media contact: Mary Stokes, Senior Communications Officer: mstokes[@]eurodad.org / +32 491146656