Foreign aid expenditure in OECD countries (discontinued), 2012

Preliminary figures from the OECD show that total development assistance from the DAC countries fell from USD 133.7 billion in 2011 to USD 125.7 billion in 2012. The decrease can be seen in conjunction with the financial crisis and the following euro zone turmoil, where considerable fiscal tightening in a number of the DAC member countries had a negative effect on the budgets for development aid. An example of this is Spain, where the share of gross national income (GNI) to ODA fell from 0.43 per cent in 2010, via 0.29 per cent in 2011, to 0.15 per cent in 2012.

Falling short of the UN’s target

ODA comparisons as a percentage of GNI are often used to measure countries’ expenditure on foreign aid. In 1970, the UN resolved that development aid should account for 0.70 per cent of GNI. Norway, Sweden and Denmark achieved this goal relatively quickly in the 1970s. However, in 2012, only the three Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands and Luxembourg achieved the target, and for the DAC countries in total, the UN goal remains a distant one.

USA by far the largest contributor

With USD 30.58 billion in ODA, the USA is by far the largest contributor when comparing monetary values, with donations more than twice that of the second largest contributor; Great Britain. However, as a percentage of GNI, the USA continues to reduce its share to development aid, down to 0.19 per cent in 2012. Together with the USA and Great Britain, Germany, France and Japan also contributed more than 10 billion dollars each to development aid.

Norway contributions down to 0.93 per cent

Norway’s ODA fell from 0.96 per cent of GNI in 2011 to 0.93 per cent in 2012. Norway was the third highest contributor when comparing percentages of GNI, surpassed only by Luxembourg and Sweden. Measured in USD billions, Norway’s development aid was exactly the same in 2012 as in 2011; USD 4.8 billion.