what is development aid?
Official Development Assistance is the term given to most development aid from richer countries to poorer countries. It is a term that has been used by the OECD since 1969 to describe aid flows. It includes some types of low-cost long term loans, but ultimately is a good indicator of overall aid flow.
how big is the flow of development aid?
Official development assistance (ODA) grew by 6.1% in 2013 to $134.8bn (£80.3bn).
The graph to the right shows various statistics regarding aid; the important line is the blue line (second to bottom) showing the actual amounts provided. This is always lower than the amount promised (the purple line, top)! However, it does show the amount of aid has steadily increased, with the exception of the period around 2008 when many countries cut their aid budgets as they pursued austerity policies following the global financial crisis. Some countries, such as the UK maintained their budgets despite this. In summary:
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Source: http://www.globalissues.org/print/article/35
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where does development aid go?
Source: http://cdn1.globalissues.org/i/aid/2014/share-of-ODA-by-income-1970-2012.png
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The graph to the left shows the amounts going to various types of countries. This is a percentage share, which means that in fact a small group of people in the LDCs (Least Developed Countries) might be receiving significant amounts, because per person they receive more.
The graph below shows that the LDCs rely heavily on ODA, while developing countries as a whole (which is any of the low or middle income countries) do not. |
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/modernising-development-finance-the-future-of-official-development-assistance-oda
Why has ODA fluctuated?
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/modernising-development-finance-the-future-of-official-development-assistance-oda