Britain's foreign aid: Where does the money go?

LONDON - Britain's foreign aid spending dropped by nearly 1.3 billion pounds ($1.73 billion) last year, mirroring a global decrease in humanitarian funds sent to poorer countries, according to government figures.

International aid fell in 2024 for the first time in five years and is set to plunge further as U.S. President Donald Trump slashes spending and other key donors cut back.

A fifth of Britain's aid budget last year was spent on housing and supporting asylum seekers domestically, a policy that has fuelled mass protests.

The Labour government has vowed to close all migrant hotels by 2029.

In February, Britain said it would slash its overseas development budget from 0.5% of gross national income (GNI) to 0.3% in order to boost defence spending.

Here are the details of Britain's foreign aid spending.

How much does Britain spend on overseas aid?

In 1970, Britain pledged to spend at least 0.7% of GNI on foreign aid as part of a United Nations pact.

It was among 30 wealthy countries, including the United States, Germany and Japan, that vowed to meet this minimum commitment each year.

As the world's third-largest aid donor, Britain spent 14.1 billion pounds in Official Development Assistance in 2024, a decrease of 8% compared to 2023, according to final government statistics released in September.

For the third year running, Britain spent the biggest portion of its aid budget on supporting asylum seekers at home, according to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

About 2.8 billion pounds - a fifth of the aid budget for 2024 - was spent on hosting asylum seekers, mostly in hotels.

A parliamentary report in October said the use of asylum hotels was a "failed, chaotic and expensive system" that wastes "considerable amounts of taxpayers' money".

Britain spent 1.45 billion pounds of its aid budget in 2024 on humanitarian assistance, a jump of nearly 65%.

Ukraine, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Syria and Somalia were the top five recipients of British aid.

How does other countries' aid spending compare?

The United States was the biggest aid donor overall last year, contributing $63.3 billion, nearly a third of the total, according to preliminary data collected by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

But Trump gutted the U.S. Agency for International Development this year, declaring it out of step with his "America First" agenda.

While the U.S. has long given the most in absolute terms, it is not the most generous, contributing far less in proportion to its wealth than many other countries.

Only four countries exceeded the 0.7% U.N. target last year - Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden. The average aid spending by donors was 3.3% of GNI.

How have cuts affected UK aid recipients?

Since 2020, Britain's aid cuts have impacted almost all international programmes dealing with global health and humanitarian work, charities have said.

In an impact assessment published in July, the FCDO said the government's planned aid cuts would negatively affect women's rights, health, reproductive health and education among the poorest communities.

"Overall, any reductions to health spending risk an increase in disease burden and ultimately in deaths, impacting in particular those living in poverty, women, children and people with disabilities," it said.

Parliament's International Development Committee, which scrutinises aid spending, in October launched an inquiry into the future of British aid in the wake of the cuts.

Many international groups are bracing for further layoffs and widespread closures of life-saving programmes for the world's most vulnerable communities. 

This article was updated on Monday November 3, 2025 at 16:11 GMT to include the parliamentary report on asylum hotels and final aid spending figures.

(Reporting by Lin Taylor. Additional reporting by Emma Batha. Editing by Clár Ní Chonghaile, Jon Hemming and Ayla Jean Yackley)