Huge Drop in Global Aid: “Deeply Concerned,” said Minister of International Development

Total ODA from OECD Development Assistance Committee members, amounted to $174.3 billion last year. This represents a 23.1 per cent decline compared to 2024. Such a large annual decline has never been recorded since statistics on official development assistance (ODA) began.

'These massive cuts have direct consequences for people around the world. We know that many lives have already been lost and more will be lost due to the extensive and rapid cuts made. The fight for human rights and against climate change will lose momentum. I'm deeply concerned for the most vulnerable people,' said Minister of International Development, Åsmund Aukrust.

The U.S. alone accounted for 75.1 per cent of the total decline, following a 56.9 per cent reduction in ODA in 2025. This is the largest recorded decline from a single donor country in a single year. For the first time, Germany, not the U.S., was the largest DAC donor in absolute terms, with $29.1 billion, marginally ahead of the U.S., which contributed $29 billion.

The decline in humanitarian aid was proportionally greater than the global reduction, falling by as much as 35.8 per cent to $15.5 billion. The OECD estimates that DAC countries' ODA will decline further with 5.8 per cent in 2026, and that the level in 2028 will still be 6.6 per cent below the 2025 level.

'The changes are profound and lasting. That is why I have launched project 'Vendepunkt', where we will carve out a new development policy tailored to this new landscape. We must examine how we best utilize Norwegian funds and our political capital to contribute to a better world for as many people as possible,' said Aukrust.

In 2025, Norway provided 58.9 billion kroner in official development assistance. Norway was the only country to allocate more than one per cent of its income to aid, reaching 1.03 percent of GNI. Besides Norway, only Denmark (0.72 per cent), Luxembourg (0.99 per cent), and Sweden (0.85 per cent) met or exceeded the UN's minimum target of 0.7 per cent.

'I am proud that Norway continues to maintain a high level of official development assistance but deeply concerned about the trend. This is one of the most serious situations for international development cooperation in modern times. Those of us who care about international cooperation and development must therefore be willing to reform and act quickly to safeguard cooperation and solidarity in times like these,' said Aukrust.

Norad will present figures and statistics on Norwegian aid at the event "Tall som teller" on May 5.