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Development Aid

Asked by Sarah GibsonLiberal DemocratForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled Answered 4 September 2025UIN 72440

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of Official Development Assistance was spent on (a) in-donor refugee costs and (b) overseas (i) poverty reduction, (ii) humanitarian aid and (iii) sustainable development programmes in the last financial year.

Answered by Stephen Doughty

The UK reports its Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend on a calendar year basis in the Statistics on International Development.

Based on the provisional statistics published in April, in 2024, 20 per cent (£2.8 billion) of UK ODA was spent on in-donor refugee costs and 10 per cent (£1.4 billion) of UK ODA was spent on bilateral humanitarian assistance; this does not include humanitarian assistance spend through multilateral organisations.

It is not possible to differentiate between programmes that support poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Final figures for 2024 will be published in Statistics on International Development: Final UK ODA Spend 2024 on 18 September 2025. Provisional figures for 2025 will be published in Spring 2026.

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