UK aid: spending reductions since 2020 and outlook from 2024/25

In 2020 the government announced aid spending would fall from 0.7% to 0.5% of gross national income (GNI) as a “temporary measure”, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic’s effects on the UK’s public finances and economy. It is now not expected to return to 0.7% until after 2029 at the earliest.

Aid spending fell from £15.2 billion in 2019 to a low of £11.4 billion in 2021, before rising to £12.8 billion in 2022 and £15.3 billion in 2023. These recent rises have not led to an end to spending pressures: in 2023 28% of UK aid was spent in the UK on the costs of hosting refugees, up from 3% in 2016.  

This research briefing sets out the effects of spending pressures and changes on the UK’s aid spending from 2020 to 2023, and plans for future aid spending by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) from 2024.

What are the priorities for UK aid spending?

The Labour Government, which took office in July 2024, says its development aim is a “world free from poverty on a liveable planet”. Its priorities include economic transformation and addressing unsustainable debt, providing climate finance and humanitarian aid, conflict prevention, and empowering women and girls. The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, has commissioned three reviews into UK aid policy, and is currently considering his response.

How did spending change from 2020 to 2023?

Almost all countries had large reductions in aid from 2019 to 2023. These included Pakistan (£305m to £69m), Ethiopia (£299m to £164m), Syria (£223m to £109m), Sudan (£93m to £51m) and Yemen (£260m to £101m).

In 2021 the FCDO said its equalities assessments found programmes targeting those with protected characteristics were no more likely to be reduced than others. However, a leaked report to the International Development Committee (IDC), drafted in March 2021, suggested there would be reductions in programmes targeted at women, girls, and those with disabilities.

The National Audit Office (NAO) also found that all seven priority areas for spending in 2021/22, apart from climate change, saw a reduction in spending in 2021/22. In 2022, the NAO judged it “too early” to assess the impact of spending changes on long-term value for money. In 2024, the Commons International Development Committee launched an inquiry into the topic.

Ongoing pressures on the overseas aid budget

In 2023 aid spending stood at 0.58% of GNI. This reflected an additional £2.5 billion in additional funding from 2022 to 2024 to meet the costs of hosting refugees in the UK. No additional funding has been provided for 2025.

Current pressures include spending on refugees in the UK and international climate finance commitments that the Conservative Government planned for  2024/25 and 2025/26. Several multilateral organisations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi, the vaccine alliance, and the International Development Association (IDA, part of the World Bank) have also launched requests for funding replenishments to cover their work from 2025. The Labour Government says it will provide £1.98 billion to the IDA over the next three years and £310 million to the WHO for 2024 to 2028.

Decisions of the Trump administration to withdraw from the WHO and Paris Agreement on Climate Change and pause most US foreign aid spending for 90 days from January 2025 are expected to put pressure on other donors.

Outlook for spending from 2023/24

In the Autumn 2024 budget, the Labour Government allocated £13.3 billion in aid for 2024/25 and £13.7 billion in 2025/26, in line with spending 0.5% of GNI on ODA. This compares to 0.51% in 2022 and 0.58% in 2023. It has not published plans for spending by theme. It is also seeking to reduce Home Office spending on refugees in the UK and said in January 2025 falls in Home Office costs had released some additional spending for the FCDO.­

In February 2025 the FCDO published a breakdown of its £9.3 billion of spending for 2024/25, including by country. Plans for 2025/26 will be published in summer 2025. Country aid spending in Africa will be £1.5 billion, the Middle East and North Africa £852 million, and £280 million in the Indo-Pacific. Other departments are also responsible for spending.

Bilateral aid fell substantially in 2023/24 before the rise in 2024/25. This fall was in order allow the UK to meet its commitments to multilateral institutions and meet rising Home Office aid spending on refugees in the UK. In 2023 the then International Development Minister, Andrew Mitchell, acknowledged bilateral spending took an “enormous hit” in 2023/24 to meet the UK’s multilateral commitments.

In July 2023, the FCDO published an equalities impact assessment on spending plans for 2023/24 (PDF). This found the impact of reductions was “expected to be severe” for women and girls, those with disabilities, and others in humanitarian need. The FCDO said its “limited funds” meant not “all equality impacts could be mitigated” but in response had planned uplifts to spending in areas including Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia.  

Update log

February 2025: Added information on updated FCDO plans for 2024/25 spending.