Foreign aid from official donors in 2022 rose to an all-time high of USD 204 billion, up from USD 186 billion in 2021, as developed countries increased their spending on processing and hosting refugees and on aid to Ukraine, according to preliminary data collected by the OECD.
The 13.6% increase in real terms is one of the biggest ever increases in Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided by members of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and the fourth consecutive year that ODA has set a new record high.
The increase was primarily due to a sharp rise in spending on processing and hosting refugees within donor countries to USD 29.3 billion, or 14.4% of ODA, up from USD 12.8 billion in 2021. Excluding these “in-donor” refugee costs, 2022 ODA still rose by 4.6% over 2021 in real terms.
Another factor behind the 2022 increase was a jump in aid to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion and ongoing war of aggression. ODA to Ukraine in 2022 totalled USD 16.1 billion – up from just USD 918 million in 2021 – including USD 1.8 billion of humanitarian aid.
The 2022 ODA total is equivalent to 0.36% of DAC donors’ combined gross national income (GNI). While this ratio is still below the UN target of 0.7% ODA to GNI, it is the highest ratio recorded by the DAC in 40 years, increasing from 0.33% in 2021.
Five DAC members – Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden – met or exceeded the 0.7% target in 2022.
ODA rose in 26 DAC countries in 2022, in many cases due to increased support for in-donor refugee costs, and fell in four countries. The largest increases were delivered by Poland (+255.6%), the Czech Republic (+167.1%), Ireland (+125.1%), Lithuania (+121.6%), Slovenia (+48.7%), and Austria (+36.2%).
Within total ODA, humanitarian aid amounted to USD 22.3 billion, up by 1% in real terms compared to 2021. DAC donors spent USD 11.2 billion on COVID-19 related activities in 2022, down 45% from 2021. Vaccine donations amounted to USD 1.53 billion, a fall of 74.1% in real terms compared to 2021. Debt relief grants counted as ODA were very low at USD 60 million.
According to the preliminary data, Greece’s ODA for the year 2022 amounted to USD 305 million (0.14% of GNI). Bilateral aid amounted to USD 45 million and multilateral aid to USD 260 million. Total ODA, marked a decrease of 6.6% (in real terms), compared to 2021 (USD 341 million, 0.16% of GNI).
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