New ODA statistics show UK assistance fell by US$4 billion between 2020 and 2021
UK ODA was £11.5 billion (US$15.4 billion) in 2021 according to recently published ODA statistics. This represents a fall of £3 billion (US$4 billion) between 2020 and 2021 as UK ODA was reduced from 0.7% to 0.5% of GNI. If the UK had maintained its commitment to deliver 0.7%, its ODA would have risen to £16 billion (US$21.5 billion) or £4.6 billion (US$6.2 billion) larger.
Below are some key trends observed from the statistics:
- The majority of cuts landed on the bilateral program, with it dropping in share from 69% in 2019 to 62% in 2021 with a £2.5 billion (US$3.4 billion) cut in bilateral ODA;
- while bilateral ODA to all regions fell, Africa took the largest cuts. The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) provided 55% of its bilateral ODA in 2020 to Africa, but this fell to a share of 52% in 2021, accounting for an £864 million (US$1.1 billion) cut. This is likely a result of the region holding a substantial amount of large bilateral programs that were cut; and
- the OECD statistics also confirmed the UK counted US$141 million of its ODA budget on vaccine donations. UK NGOs have been very critical of this policy noting that the donations should not come out of the ODA budget.
UK government – 2021 Provisional ODA statistics