The United Nations (UN) has tasked the world's richest countries with donating 0.7% of their gross national income (GNI) to foreign aid.
Although aid spending has increased since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war to an all-time high of $211 billion (£167bn), only a handful of countries have hit that 0.7% target, despite their seemingly generous contributions of cash.
Read on to see which countries have given the most money to other nations based on data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2022, the most recent figures available. All dollar amounts in US dollars.
The Slovak Republic donated 0.15% of its national income in 2022, which resulted in $200 million (£159m) in foreign aid. This represents an increase of $45 million (£36m) since 2021, when its foreign aid accounted for 0.14% of its GNI.
The recipients of Slovakian aid in 2022 included Ukraine, which received $9 million (£7m), as well as Georgia, Kenya and Moldova.
Over the last decade, Greece has experienced a number of economic challenges, which have reduced the aid it's been able to provide via official development assistance (ODA).
For 2022, it devoted 0.17% of its GNI – around $400 million (£317m) – to foreign aid, marking a decrease of 6.6% from 2021. Of the $400 million, around $20 million (£16m) went towards donating COVID-19 vaccines, although these were leftover from Greece's own domestic supply rather than explicitly purchased for other countries.
Oxfam has criticised the decision to include vaccine donations in aid budgets, describing it as "throwing out the aid rulebook" in a potential bid to inflate ODA figures.
South Korea has the distinction of being the only country that's transitioned from receiving ODA to donating it.
Between 2021 and 2022, the nation upped its ODA from 0.16% to 0.17%. However, the amount of money it donated decreased fractionally, falling to $2.8 billion (£2.2bn).
That said, South Korea has made numerous pledges of financial aid, most recently promising $70 million (£55m) to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and $12 million (£9.5m) to Syrian refugees. It also plans to double its budget for Pacific Island countries to $40 million (£32m) by 2027.
In 2022, Australia donated $3 billion (£2.4bn) in foreign aid, which amounted to 0.19% of its national income. This figure has certainly declined since 2012, when it was 0.36%. The Australian government has said it plans to increase its contributions, aiming for a growth rate of 2.5% per year, according to its 2023–24 budget.
Much of this aid goes to poorer nations in the Indo-Pacific region. Over the next four years, it plans to increase its Pacific aid by A$900 million ($590m/£470m).
Portugal's 2022 offering of $500 million (£397m), which represents 0.21% of its GNI, is up 17.5% on its 2021 contribution. It's the country's largest increase since 2010.
According to the OECD, this is due to increased budget support for African countries, particularly those that speak Portuguese, and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
In 2022, New Zealand gave 0.22% of its GNI in aid, which worked out to $500 million (£397m). This was a sharp drop from the $685 million (£543m) it donated in 2021, representing a monetary decrease of 17.2%.
With a GNI rate of 0.28% between 2018-2021, New Zealand's ratio remains below the average for wealthy countries (around 0.33%) and well below the UN target of 0.7%.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the nation devotes the largest share of its ODA to neighbouring countries in Oceania.
The US, one of the world's biggest economies, donated more money than any other country on our list, with its foreign aid equating to around $60.5 billion (£43bn) in 2022.
While this figure – which represents an increase from $47.8 billion (£38bn) in 2021 – might look impressive, it actually accounts for just 0.23% of the country's GNI. Of this, 16.3% has gone to Ukraine, with only two other countries, Lithuania and Canada, pledging a greater percentage of their total ODA to the Eastern European nation in 2022.
Preliminary figures for 2023 suggest the US has reduced the amount spent on foreign aid to $45 billion (£36bn), but these are just estimates.
Hungary donated $400 million (£317m) in foreign aid in 2022, 0.26% of its GNI.
Since 2015, the country has more than doubled the amount of money it provides in ODA, already surpassing its own goal of reaching 0.25% by 2025.
It's striving to meet the UN's 0.7% target by 2030, although its 2022 figures have decreased. The European nation donated 0.28% of its GNI in 2021, which amounted to $435 million (£345m).
Slovenia donated $200 million (£159m) in foreign aid in 2022, which accounted for 0.29% of its GNI. This is a significant increase on the $116 million (£92m) it donated in 2021, which worked out to 0.19% of its GNI.
Much of Slovenia's ODA is focused on the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe, although it seemingly devoted just 3.3% of its total donations to Ukraine last year.
Spain gave $4.3 billion (£3.4bn) in 2022, the equivalent of 0.3% of its GNI. This represents a sizable increase from 2021 when it donated slightly more than $3.6 billion (£3bn), or 0.26% of its GNI.
Most of Spain's 2022 increase is attributed to rising in-donor refugee costs, which cover the expenses that host countries incur when they receive refugees. However, as with COVID-19 vaccinations, Oxfam has condemned the inclusion of in-donor refugee costs when calculating ODA, claiming "it is not development aid" as it's spent domestically.
Italy increased its total monetary contribution to foreign aid by a whopping 34.5% between 2020 and 2021, followed by a 15.8% increase between 2021 and 2022.
The Mediterranean nation donated just over $6.6 billion (£5.2bn) in 2022, or 0.33% of its GNI.
However, the OECD report sheds further light on this nominal increase, revealing that Italy's ODA only grew due to in-donor refugee costs. Excluding this funding, its ODA would actually have fallen between 2021 and 2022.
While Iceland donated just $100 million (£79m), its population of approximately 376,000 people means that the figure equates to 0.34% of its GNI. The increase was partly due to its support for Ukraine and rising in-donor refugee costs.
According to the Government of Iceland's website, Iceland's three priority partner countries are Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, where it's working to "reduce poverty and hunger and promote improved livelihoods".
Looking forward, Iceland has set goals to increase ODA to 0.35% of GNI in 2024 and 0.46% in 2028.
Lithuania made $200 million (£159m) in aid contributions during 2022, or 0.36% of its GNI. In 2021, it gave a comparatively meagre $86 million (£68m), or 0.14% of its GNI, meaning its donations have soared by a whopping 121.5%.
According to the OECD, this growth is mainly due to increasing aid for Ukraine, which accounted for more than 25% of the nation's ODA, and in-donor refugee costs, which accounted for €7.5 million ($76.3m/£60.3m).
Canada bumped up its foreign aid contribution by 8% in 2021 and followed this up with a 19.2% increase in 2022. The North American nation donated 0.37% of its GNI, or $7.8 billion (£6bn), to struggling countries.
The OECD says this rise was mainly due to "exceptional" support for Ukraine, which received over $2.4 billion (£2bn) from Canada in 2022.
Other costs included donations to developing countries battling the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising in-donor refugee costs, and larger contributions to international organisations.
The Czech Republic massively stepped up its donations from 2021 to 2022, increasing its ODA as a percentage of GNI from 0.13% to 0.38%. In monetary terms, that's an increase of 167%, with around $1 billion (£780m) in aid donated.
This sharp rise can be attributed to the Czech Republic's support for Ukraine, which received a large slice of the country's foreign aid last year.
Between 2021 and 2022, Japan increased its aid contribution by 19%, donating 0.39% of its GNI, which amounted to around $17.5 billion (£13.6bn). This rise was largely due to a boost in bilateral lending, including support for Ukraine.
Besides Ukraine, the principal beneficiaries of Japanese ODA are located in Africa and Asia (excluding the Middle East).
Austria also allocated 0.39% of its gross national income, or $1.8 billion (£1.4bn), to foreign aid. That's an increase of 36.2% from 2021 when it provided nearly $1.5 billion worth of aid. However, it's still well below the UN's 0.7% target.
What's more, the OECD suggests this is due to rising in-donor refugee costs, which – as previously mentioned – Oxfam doesn't believe should qualify as ODA.
In 2022, Belgium gave $2.7 billion (£2.1bn) in foreign aid, 0.45% of its GNI. The year before, it gave 0.43% of its GNI, or $2.66 billion (£2bn), meaning its ODA increased in monetary terms by 7% between 2021 and 2022.
This is the second consecutive year that Belgium's ODA commitments have risen. However, the OECD reports that the European country "is not in line with its domestic, international, and EU commitments to achieve a 0.7% GNI ratio by 2030".
On the other hand, while many wealthy countries have been criticised for counting the costs of hosting refugees as part of their 2022 ODA contributions, Belgium, along with Slovakia and Luxembourg, is one of the few countries that partially exclude refugee costs from their reporting.
The UK government announced it would decrease its ODA commitments to 0.5% of GNI starting in 2021 due to the economic impact of the pandemic. This marked the first time the UK had not met the UN's target of 0.7% since 2013.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts the UK will be in a position to return to the 0.7% rate sometime around 2027-2029. Until then, it will maintain its 0.5% "temporary target".
In 2022, it spent 0.51% of GNI or $15.8 billion (£12.5bn) on foreign aid. Its top two recipients were Afghanistan at £352m ($445m) and Ukraine at £342m ($433m).
Poland's foreign aid donations increased by a staggering 255.6% between 2021 and 2022, the biggest increase of any country on this list. The nation's share of GNI pledged to ODA rose from 0.15% to an impressive 0.53%, with donations in monetary terms rising from $984 million (£779m) to around $3.5 billion (£3bn).
Poland's ODA strategy focuses on its Eastern European neighbours, the Middle East and Africa, and it gave 6.7% of its total donations to Ukraine last year. However, the OECD reports the enormous increase is mainly due to surging in-donor refugee costs, given it borders Ukraine, and international organisation commitments.
France donated $16 billion (£12.4bn) in foreign aid in 2022. This accounts for 0.56% of its GNI and represents an increase from 0.51% in 2021.
The French government aimed to hit 0.55% by 2022, surpassing this target by 0.01%. It plans to achieve the UN's 0.7% goal by 2030.
According to the OECD, France has pledged more support to countries in sub-Saharan Africa as part of its increasing commitments.
Like France, Switzerland pledged 0.56% of its GNI to foreign aid last year. This amounted to around $4.5 billion (£4bn), which marks an increase of 16.1% from 2021.
However, Switzerland is another country in the OECD report that Oxfam would argue has its ODA figures artificially inflated due to its in-donor refugee costs. In 2022, around 25% of the country's ODA went to domestic costs for asylum seekers.
Finland gave $1.6 billion (£1.3bn), or 0.57% of its GNI, to foreign aid in 2022. That's an increase of 18.7% since 2021, when the country pledged $1.4 billion (£1bn).
Finnish aid programmes typically prioritise efforts related to the rights of women and girls, education, and climate change.
Last year, the northern European country announced it would no longer give development aid to any countries that support Russia's war in Ukraine. It did not name names, but specified that the governments most likely to see cuts are located in Africa.
In 2022, Ireland donated $2.4 billion (£2bn) in foreign aid, or 0.63% of its GNI. This represents a 125% increase from 2021 when the nation donated 0.30% of its GNI, which amounted to $1.15 billion (£911m). This includes more than €120 million ($131m/£103m) in climate finance to developing countries in 2022.
However, like many other countries on this list, the OECD attributes Ireland's increase to rising in-donor refugee costs. These expenses made up more than 50% of Irish ODA in 2022.
Foreign aid as a share of GNI in the Netherlands has declined over the last decade, peaking at 0.82% in 2009. In 2022, however, the downward trend reversed, with the figure climbing from 0.52% to 0.67% with total donations reaching $6.5 billion (£5.1bn).
Still not quite hitting the 0.7% target, the recent increase can be attributed to rising donations to Ukraine, which received $177 million (£140m) from the Netherlands last year.
With the Party for Freedom taking a lead in the Dutch parliament, having run on a platform that included ending foreign aid, it's uncertain how much money will be directed to ODA going forward.
Denmark donated 0.67% of its GNI to foreign development in 2022, a drop from 0.71% of GNI in 2021. This brings the European nation below the UN goal for the first time in at least four decades.
Most of Denmark's foreign aid is diverted to poverty-stricken countries in Africa, though it also donated $146 million (£116m) to Ukraine last year.
Germany contributed around $35.6 billion (£27bn) in foreign aid in 2022, an increase of $2.4 billion (£1.9bn) from 2021.
In dollars, this is the second largest amount given by any donor on our list and, at 0.85% of Germany's GNI, stands well above the UN's 0.7% target.
The country first reached the target in 2016 and, over the last few years, has continued to reach or even pass it.
Norway's ODA contributions fell from 0.93% of its GNI to 0.86% between 2021 and 2022. However, in monetary terms its donations increased by 2.4%, hitting $5.2 billion (£4bn) last year.
One of the few wealthy countries to exceed the 0.7% target, Norway has set its own goal of committing to a full 1%. Its foreign aid policy has typically focused on food security, climate, health, inequality, and sexual and reproductive rights, according to the OECD.
Sweden donated 0.9% of its GNI, or $5.5 billion (£4.3bn), in 2022.
Although this was a slight decrease from 0.91% the year before – which itself was a decrease of nearly 16% from 2020 – its ODA actually increased in monetary terms from 2021 to 2022. The OECD has attributed this to increased aid for Ukraine and in-donor refugee costs.
Luxembourg may be small – it only has a population of around 659,000 – but it's also the most generous country in the world when it comes to foreign aid as a percentage of GNI, donating 1% of its gross national income in 2022. This equates to $500 million (£446m).
Luxembourg has surpassed the 0.7% target since 2000 and focuses its aid on six partner countries, five of which are located in sub-Saharan Africa.