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

LONDON - Britain has said it will cut its foreign aid budget, prompting the resignation of its development minister and criticism from charities already grappling with the fallout from freezes to USAID funding.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week said he would slash the overseas development budget from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% in order to boost Britain's defence spending. 

The decision stunned charities that warned it would tarnish British influence abroad and have a devastating impact on the people they support. 

Britain's move was announced just days before the United States, the world's biggest donor, abruptly terminated thousands of U.S.-funded programmes worldwide, including those providing life-saving care for millions of people in Africa.

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

As the world's fifth largest aid donor, Britain spent 15.34 billion pounds in Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2023, including domestic spending on refugee programmes, according to official government statistics.

Ukraine, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Syria were among the countries receiving the biggest share. 

Nearly a third of the budget for 2023, around 4.3 billion pounds, was spent on hosting asylum seekers and refugees at home, according to the latest data from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

In November, Britain pledged 1.98 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) from its overseas aid budget to the World Bank to fund international development. 

The FCDO did not confirm whether it would still deliver on its World Bank pledge and said it would return to 0.7% of GNI "when fiscal circumstances allow".

How does other countries' aid spending compare?

Several countries have exceeded the U.N. aid target including Germany (0.82%), Luxembourg (0.99%), Norway (1.09%), Sweden (0.93%), and Denmark (0.73%), according to the latest data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The United States was the biggest cash donor in 2023. It spent $64.69 billion, followed by Germany ($37.9 billion), EU institutions ($26.87 billion), Japan ($19.6 billion) and Britain.

How have cuts impacted 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.

Sexual health programmes across Africa faced a 60% cut in funding as a result, according to a 2023 assessment by parliament's International Development Committee (IDC) which scrutinises aid spending.

Other programmes affected by cuts included initiatives to deter female genital mutilation (FGM) in Somalia, support for women and girls under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, and programmes to vaccinate children, the report said.

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

($1 = 0.7876 pounds)

This article was updated on March 3 to reflect the UK aid budget cuts and US aid freeze.

(Reporting by Lin Taylor; Editing by Clár Ní Chonghaile and Jon Hemming.)