(OECD) Final data on aid flows from OECD donor countries shows they provided a total of USD 145 billion in official development assistance (ODA) to developing countries in 2016 – an all-time high and an increase of 10.7% from 2015 in real terms. The figure is revised up from a preliminary total of USD 142.6 billion published in April 2017 after countries provided more complete and accurate data than was previously available.
As a share of donor countries’ gross national income, total net ODA was 0.32%, up from 0.30% in 2015. Within the total, USD 16 billion was used to fund the hosting and processing of refugees within donor countries, up from USD 12 billion in 2015. Excluding these in-donor refugee costs, ODA was still up 8.6% from 2015 in real terms.
Total ODA to the group of countries classed as least developed was USD 43.1 billion, up 0.5% in real terms from 2015. ODA to sub-Saharan Africa was USD 41.8 billion, down 1.5% from 2015.
The figure for total net ODA covers flows from the 29 member countries of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC), sent either bilaterally or via multilateral agencies or regional development banks. Accounting for roughly 85% of global ODA, ODA from DAC donors has more than doubled in volume since 2000.
The largest DAC donors by volume were the US, Germany, UK, Japan and France. Six countries – Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and the UK – met or exceeded a UN target for ODA of 0.7% of gross national income. Net ODA disbursements by EU institutions were USD 17.1 billion.
