Signal Official development assistance falls to $212.1bn with a further drop projected

Summary

This signal tracks the shrinking of official development assistance from donor governments. ODA dropped to $212.1 billion in 2024, and UNDP expects it to fall by a further 9-17% between 2024 and 2025. The decline comes as defence budgets surge and many OECD countries redirect money away from aid, part of a wider retreat from multilateral cooperation. UNDP asks whether military spending will crowd out development funding, or whether framing investments in human security and climate as security spending could create new openings. It also points to non-traditional actors, such as philanthropists and blended finance or co-investment arrangements, as forces that may reshape how development is paid for.