Donor Profile

Norway

Last updated: April 28, 2023

Summary



ODA Spending


How much ODA does Norway contribute?


While Norway's ODA/GNI ratio fell to 0.86% in 2022, there is broad political support for the country to return to a 1% ODA/GNI ratio.



How is Norwegian ODA changing?


2022 was the second year in a row that Norway did not meet its 1% ODA/GNI target, and also reflected the lowest ODA/GNI ratio in the past decade. The low ratio was driven by an increase in GNI. Without in-donor refugee costs (which made up 10% of total ODA), Norway's ODA fell by 7% compared to 2021 levels.


In 2022, the Center-Left government proposed to reduce ODA to 0.75% of GNI in 2023. However, this proposal was abandoned in December 2022 following domestic and global criticism of Norway’s failure to increase ODA spending in proportion to its gains in GNI due to the war in Ukraine. Following negotiations with the SV party, the government announced an additional five-year funding package worth NOK75 billion, or US$$7.8 billion, for Ukraine to maintain an ODA/GNI ratio of 1%.


Norway’s 2024 budget was finalized on December 18, 2023. It amounts to NOK52.5 billion (US$5.5 billion) which corresponds to 0.96% of estimated GNI in 2024, which is an 18.8% (NOK 8.3 billion or US$860 million) increase compared to the 2023 budget. The increase is driven by the Nansen program for Ukraine, new efforts to increase private sector investments in renewable energy, and a continued focus on food security and climate adaptation.

Several public figures, advocacy organizations, and CSOs criticized the fact that the SV did not prioritize the 1% ODA/GNI target in negotiations.



Where is Norwegian ODA allocated?


Norway’s government considers funding through multilateral organizations an effective way to pursue its priorities. Support for multilateral organizations is composed of earmarked funding channeled through multilateral organizations for specific sectors or regions as well as core funding to multilaterals.


Alongside multilaterals, CSOs are key partners for Norwegian development cooperation. In 2022, 21% of Norwegian bilateral ODA was channeled through CSOs, well above the DAC average of 11%.

In recent years, Norway has increasingly prioritized private sector development and job creation in development cooperation. Much of Norway’s support for economic development is administered through Norfund, a state-owned investment fund supporting private-sector activities in partner countries, whose investments are not ODA-eligible.


Over the past decade, in-donor refugee spending has decreased from a peak of 18% of ODA in 2016 to 1% of ODA in 2021, but then rising to 10% of ODA in 2022. The government decided to increase ODA spending on refugee costs in 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.



Bilateral Spending


Norway’s strategic priorities are largely reflected in its bilateral funding allocations. In 2022, humanitarian assistance received the largest shares of bilateral ODA. Refugees in donor countries as well as energy were the next largest priorities in ODA spending.


In 2023, the government decided to increase funding for humanitarian assistance, efforts to combat hunger and climate change, and efforts to promote women’s rights. This trend is in accord with the Hurdalen platform, the coalition agreement that outlines the overarching direction of the government to the parliament for the period 2021-2025.


Norway directs most of its ODA to LICs and LMICs, as defined by the DAC. Because a large share of Norway’s ODA is channeled as earmarked funding to multilaterals to support CSOs and in-country refugee costs, 51% of Norway’s bilateral ODA in 2022 was not allocated to a specific income group. As a result, explicit funding for LICs officially accounted for only 17% of bilateral ODA in 2022.



Multilateral Spending and Commitments


In 2022, Norway channeled 20% of its ODA, or US$966 million, as core contributions to multilateral organizations, significantly below the 32% average among members of the OECD DAC. However, Norway channeled another 31% of its ODA, or US$1.5 billion, in the form of earmarked funding through multilaterals, much higher than the DAC’s average of 15%.


Norway published guidelines for its multilateral policy in a 2019 MFA white paper entitled ‘Norway’s Role and Interest in Multilateral Cooperation.’


Norway is a strong supporter of the UN system. UN agencies received 43% of Norway’s core contributions to multilateral organizations in 2022. In addition, 14% went to the World Bank, and 10% to regional development banks. The current government strongly supports vertical funds, especially in the global health sector.


Recent commitments to multilateral organizations are summarized below.



Politics & Priorities


What is the current state of Norwegian politics?


Norway is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. Political power is divided among the cabinet, called the Council of the State, which is overseen by the prime minister; the legislature, or Storting; and the judiciary, which is independent of the other branches. There are elections for the Storting every four years. The five dominant political parties are the Labor Party or ‘Arbeiderpartiert’, the Conservative Party, the Center Party or ‘Senterpartiert’, the Progress Party, and the SV Party.


Jonas Gahr Støre is the current prime minister of Norway and has been in office since October 2021. The AP and SP are part of the coalition government and have both been in power since the general elections in September 2021.


Who is responsible for allocating Norwegian ODA?


Click for more details on each actor.


What are Norway's development priorities?


Norway’s development policy priorities are listed in the MFA’s 2016 white paper, Common responsibility for a common future – the Sustainable Development Goals and Norwegian Development Policy, and include:

  • Education;
  • Global health;
  • Humanitarian assistance;
  • Private sector development, agriculture, and renewable energy; and
  • Climate change, environment, and oceans.

The current government’s priorities for 2021-2025 were published in the Hurdalen platform and include:

  • Climate and clean energy;
  • The fight against hunger;
  • The fight against inequality;
  • Women’s rights;
  • Humanitarian assistance; and
  • The fight against infectious diseases.

At the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, the government launched three new strategies closely aligned with its priorities within international development:


By issue


Climate change: The Norwegian government’s commitment to climate change, the environment, and oceans is reflected in its substantial funding for this issue. In February 2023, Norway launched a strategy for climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and the fight against hunger which outlined its path to achieving this target.

One of the government’s largest development programs is NICFI, through which it has pledged up to NOK3 billion, or US$512 million, per year to reduce deforestation. Funding for this program is channeled through the Ministry of Climate and the Environment.

In May 2022, Norway’s launched its Climate Investment Fund. The fund is described as one of Norway’s most important tools in accelerating the global energy transition by investing in renewable energy in LMICs that have large emissions from coal and other fossil fuels. The fund will receive initial funding of with NOK2 billion, or US$208 million, each year for the next five years and will be managed by Norfund.\


Read more about Norway’s ODA to Climate


Education and gender equality: The previous government under former Prime Minister Erna Solberg prioritized education, particularly for girls and women. Between 2013 and 2017, funding to the sector doubled and has remained high. The current government under Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is committed to the goal of providing at least NOK3.4 billion, or US$354 million, to education between 2022 and 2026.

Within education, priority areas include:

  • Enhancing opportunities for women and girls to complete high-quality and free primary and secondary schooling;
  • Equal access to higher education (including university education) and quality technical and vocational training; and learning opportunities for women and girls in crisis and conflict situations.

Norway is the 4th largest donor to GPE, committing NOK3.7 billion, or US$430 million, for 2021-2025.


Norway considers education a core component of its humanitarian assistance policy and shows international leadership in the area. It is one of five founding donors to ECW, a fund launched in 2016 that aims to improve access to education services in humanitarian emergencies and crises. In total, Norway has contributed US$83 million to the fund. During ECW’s High-level Financing Conference in February 2023, Norway announced an additional allocation of NOK500 million, or US$52 million, to the fund for the period 2023-2025. Norway is the 5th-largest donor to ECW after Germany, the UK, US, and Denmark.


Read more about Norway’s ODA related to Education


Read more about Norway’s ODA related to Gender Equality


Global health: Norway’s longstanding prioritization of global health was reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Norad’s 2021 statistics, Norway’s contributions towards health-related ODA, including core support for multilateral organizations, stood at NOK7.9 billion, or US$920 million, in 2021. Of this, NOK2.9 billion, or US$338 million, supported COVID-19 response in LICs.

In the fall of 2019, the government launched its strategy Better Health, Better Lives, which focuses specifically on combatting non-communicable diseases through development cooperation (applicable from 2020-2024).


Read more about Norway’s ODA for Global Health


Agriculture: Food security and agriculture are highlighted as a main priority in the Hurdalen platform. In particular, the government’s approach to this topic focuses on sustainable, small-scale production and climate-smart agriculture.


In November 2022, the government launched a new strategy on food security: Gathering power against famine - a policy for increasing self-sufficiency, which focuses on local and national food security through investments in small-scale food producers, their value chains and climate-robust development.


Read more about Norway’s ODA for Agriculture


By region


’Sub-Saharan Africa’: Geographically, SSA receives the largest share of Norway’s bilateral ODA.


According to the MFA’s 2017 white paper on the Sustainable Development Goals, Norway focuses on bilateral cooperation with 16 countries, advancing a holistic and cross-sectoral approach to development in each. The paper outlines two categories of partners:

  • Partners for long-term development cooperation: Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Malawi, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Tanzania, and Uganda; and
  • Partners for stabilization and conflict prevention with a holistic and long-term perspective: Afghanistan, Mali, Niger, Palestine, Somalia, and South Sudan.

In March 2023, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt and Minister of International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim met with Norwegian private sector and civil society stakeholders to discuss updates to the Norwegian-Africa policy. According to the MFA, the new policy will be presented during the summer of 2024. The aim of the strategy is to target rapid development on the African continent and to update the policy to reflect Africa's changing geopolitical role.


Budget


What are the sources of Norway's ODA budget?


The Ministry of Foreign Affairs contributes the largest share of ODA budget. In Norway's 2024 budget, the MFA allocated US$5 billion (92%) of Norwegian ODA, an 18% increase from the 2023 budget (US$4.3 billion). Increasing amounts of the MFA's budget are being dedicated to bilateral cooperation, which saw an increase of 80% compared to 2023, largely due to the Nansen Program for Ukraine. The MFA's funding allocations cover:

  • Thematic cooperation, which combines bilateral and multilateral funding to advance certain areas;
  • Bilateral cooperation (structured by region); and
  • Multilateral funding (outside of specific thematic cooperation).

Other ODA-disbursing ministries are the Ministry of Climate and Environment (US$416 million, or 7.6% of total ODA), used mainly for Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative, and the Ministry of Finance (US$11 million, or 0.2% of total ODA). The Ministry of Climate and Environment saw a notable increase of 30% in the 2024 budget compared to the previous year following budget negotiations with the SV. The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development also disburses a small amount of ODA (US$200,000), and the Ministry of Education and Research allocates approximately US$1.6 million in ODA, mainly for the administrative costs of Research Council of Norway related to the management of ODA-funded research programs.


In August 2023, the Norwegian government announced that Norad is to take on greater responsibility for the management of Norwegian development funding, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to receive a clearer responsibility for development policy formulation. Management of international development, which currently is under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is slated to be transferred to Norad beginning early 2024. The change will give Norad authority over the following budget items:

  • Humanitarian assistance;
  • Global security issues and disarmament;
  • Human rights;
  • A large portion of funding for the UN; and
  • Funding for Europe, Central Asia, and Afghanistan.


What are the steps and timelines for the Norway's ODA budget approval?


The budget process runs over two years. Preparatory work starts about a year before the current fiscal year, and the ongoing budget may be amended in March/April and in August. Norway's fiscal year corresponds to the calendar year.



The Donor Tracker team, along with many DAC donor countries, no longer uses the term "foreign aid". In the modern world, "foreign aid" is monodirectional and insufficient to describe the complex nature of global development work, which, when done right, involves the establishment of profound economic and cultural ties between partners.


We strongly prefer the term Official Development Assistance (ODA) and utilize specific terms such as grant funding, loans, private sector investment, etc., which provide a clearer picture of what is concretely occurring. “Foreign aid” will be referenced for accuracy when referring to specific policies that use the term. Read more in this Donor Tracker Insight.

Our Norway Experts

Nadia Setiabudi

Nadia Setiabudi

Consultant