Fiscal

UK foreign aid spend, year by year

Total UK official development assistance in cash pounds, and as a share of national income, for every year on the public record. These are the UK government’s own returns as published — nothing here is deflated, spliced or estimated.

Aid spend

£13.04bn

2025 · grant equivalent basis

Latest published year

2025

Grant equivalent basis, as published

Published years

66

1960 to 2025

£0bn£3.84bn£7.67bn£11.51bn£15.34bn1960196719741981198819952002200920162023
UK official development assistance, cash £
66 published years · read 03 Sept 2026

The measurement basis changed in 2018: from that year the headline is the grant-equivalent measure the OECD DAC now uses, and earlier years are published as net disbursements. Both are the publisher’s own figures for the year concerned and are shown as such in the table — they are not spliced into a single adjusted series here. The most recent year is provisional until the final release later in the year.

Year by year

YearAid spendShare of national incomePublished basis
2025£13.04bn0.43%Grant equivalent
2024£14.08bn0.50%Grant equivalent
2023£15.34bn0.58%Grant equivalent
2022£12.79bn0.51%Grant equivalent
2021£11.42bn0.50%Grant equivalent
2020£14.48bn0.70%Grant equivalent
2019£15.18bn0.70%Grant equivalent
2018£14.54bn0.70%Grant equivalent
2017£14.05bn0.70%Net disbursements
2016£13.38bn0.70%Net disbursements
2015£12.14bn0.70%Net disbursements
2014£11.7bn0.70%Net disbursements
2013£11.43bn0.70%Net disbursements
2012£8.77bn0.56%Net disbursements
2011£8.63bn0.56%Net disbursements
2010£8.45bn0.57%Net disbursements
2009£7.22bn0.51%Net disbursements
2008£6.36bn0.43%Net disbursements
2007£4.92bn0.36%Net disbursements
2006£6.77bn0.51%Net disbursements
2005£5.93bn0.47%Net disbursements
2004£4.31bn0.36%Net disbursements
2003£3.83bn0.34%Net disbursements
2002£3.29bn0.31%Net disbursements
2001£3.17bn0.32%Net disbursements
2000£2.97bn0.32%Net disbursements
1999£2.12bn0.24%Net disbursements
1998£2.33bn0.27%Net disbursements
1997£2.1bn0.26%Net disbursements
1996£2.05bn0.27%Net disbursements
1995£2.03bn0.29%Net disbursements
1994£2.09bn0.31%Net disbursements
1993£1.94bn0.31%Net disbursements
1992£1.85bn0.31%Net disbursements
1991£1.81bn0.32%Net disbursements
1990£1.49bn0.27%Net disbursements
1989£1.58bn0.31%Net disbursements
1988£1.49bn0.32%Net disbursements
1987£1.14bn0.28%Net disbursements
1986£1.19bn0.31%Net disbursements
1985£1.19bn0.33%Net disbursements
1984£1.07bn0.33%Net disbursements
1983£1.06bn0.35%Net disbursements
1982£1.03bn0.37%Net disbursements
1981£1.09bn0.43%Net disbursements
1980£0.8bn0.35%Net disbursements
1979£1.02bn0.51%Net disbursements
1978£0.76bn0.46%Net disbursements
1977£0.64bn0.44%Net disbursements
1976£0.49bn0.39%Net disbursements
1975£0.41bn0.38%Net disbursements
1974£0.34bn0.40%Net disbursements
1973£0.26bn0.36%Net disbursements
1972£0.27bn0.42%Net disbursements
1971£0.25bn0.44%Net disbursements
1970£0.2bn0.39%Net disbursements
1969£0.2bn0.43%Net disbursements
1968£0.17bn0.40%Net disbursements
1967£0.18bn0.44%Net disbursements
1966£0.17bn0.45%Net disbursements
1965£0.17bn0.47%Net disbursements
1964£0.18bn0.53%Net disbursements
1963£0.15bn0.48%Net disbursements
1962£0.15bn0.52%Net disbursements
1961£0.16bn0.59%Net disbursements
1960£0.14bn0.56%Net disbursements

Official sources