The USA as an Aid Donor – Facts and Figures
The USA is the largest donor country when it comes to official development assistance (ODA), with a sum of USD 64.7 billion in 2023. This sum accounted for 0.24 per cent of the country’s gross national income (GNI).
In 2023, total aid from the member countries of the OECD development assistance committee (DAV) amounted to USD 223.3 billion. The USA accounted for 29 per cent of this amount. Germany was the second largest, with USD 37.9 billion, which amounted to 17 per cent. Norway contributed USD 5.5 billion, or 2 per cent of total aid.
From 2020 to 2023, US aid increased significantly from USD 39.8 billion in 2020 to USD 62.3 billion in 2023 (in fixed 2022 prices). This constitutes an increase of 57 per cent. The share of GNI increased from 0.17 per cent in 2020 to 0.24 per cent in2023.
Different sectors
The USA plays an important role as a donor within several sectors. Of aid from DAC countries in 2023, US aid accounted for:
- 77% of aid earmarked for population policy and reproductive health
- 59% of aid earmarked for governance, civil society and the prevention of conflict
- 57% of aid earmarked for emergency relief
Changes to US aid could therefore have a major impact on financing in these sectors.
Aid through multilateral channels
Aid through multilateral channels refers to money that a country donates through international organisations such as the UN, the World Bank or other global and regional institutions. Instead of donating money directly to another country, the donor country gives the money to an organisation that distributes the funds to the countries and projects with the greatest need.
In 2023, the USA gave USD 27.6 billion in aid through multilateral channels. This means that the USA sent the money to international organisations responsible for the further distribution of the funds.
- Earmarked aid:USD 21.9 billion of the aid was earmarked. This means that the USA determined how the money would be spent, for example on specific projects or sectors.
- Core funding:USD 5.7 billion was earmarked for core funding. Core funding refers to less restrictive funding that the organisations can use to achieve their goals.
Although the USA is a major contributor to the multilateral system, the majority of US aid is subject to specific conditions. This means that they provide more earmarked funding and less core funding. In 2023, the USA accounted for 26 per cent of total aid from the DAC countries to multilateral organisations, but only 9 per cent of core funding.
Aid for Ukraine
Ukraine was the largest recipient country of US aid in 2023, with total aid of USD 11.8 billion. Other major recipient countries included Ethiopia, Jordan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The USA was also the largest DAC donor by far to Ukraine, with USD 11.8 billion in 2023. Compared to the other DAC countries, who donated a combined total of USD 6.4 billion, the USA was a dominant donor. Nevertheless, it is important to note that EU institutions overall were the largest donor, at USD 20.5 billion, which means that the USA accounted for 30 per cent of total aid to Ukraine from official donors.
Aid by income category
US earmarked aid to the least developed countries increased to USD 13.5 billion in 2023, from USD 11.7 billion in 2022. Despite this increase, aid to the least developed countries only accounted for 36 per cent of the country-allocated aid in 2023, a decline from 53 per cent in 2021. This is due to increased aid for Ukraine, which is a lower middle-income country. In 2023, 46 per cent of country-allocated aid went to middle-income countries, an increase from 21 per cent in 2021.