Briefing
This briefing examines recent trends in the United Kingdom’s official development assistance (ODA). The UK is the fifth largest donor globally and has historically sought to target its aid to where it is most needed. Since 2020, however, the UK aid budget has been subject to multiple rounds of cuts, despite rising needs in low- and middle-income countries driven by the Covid-19 pandemic and the impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The speed and scale of these reductions have strained relationships with key partners and constrained the UK’s ability to deliver on development objectives, including efforts to promote food security. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has been particularly affected, with sharp cuts to bilateral programmes. Alongside the overall decline in aid spending, an increasing share of UK ODA has been absorbed by in-donor refugee costs, allocated through other government departments, or counted as vaccine donations. Aid reductions have also been disproportionately concentrated in Africa, the region facing some of the highest levels of need.