The 0.7% aid target

The UN has a target for countries to spend 0.7% of their gross national income (GNI) on official development assistance (ODA). ODA is aid intended to promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries.

In 2013, the UK achieved this target for the first time. Since 2015, the government has also been under a statutory duty to meet it. However, in 2021 the government announced it would reduce spending to 0.5% of GNI, citing the economic impact of the covid-19 pandemic. In 2024 the Labour Government said it would restore spending to 0.7% as soon as fiscal circumstances allow.

This briefing describes international and UK performance against the target, when UK spending might be restored, and debates over the target’s reform.

Duty to meet the target and Treasury tests

The International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015 sets the duty to meet the target. If missed, the government must report to Parliament explaining why this was the case (explanations take the form of written statements). If relevant, the Act says, the explanation may include reference to economic or fiscal circumstances in the UK or overseas. This is the only accountability mechanism in the Act.

In 2021, debate centred on whether legislation was required for the new target of 0.5%. The former Solicitor General (PDF) and Director of Public Prosecutions argued legislation was required. However, the government argued none was needed. In 2021, the Commons voted in favour of two Treasury-proposed tests that must be met before spending is restored to 0.7% (see below for detail).

Both the Commons vote and Treasury tests are non-binding and not required under the 2015 Act. The Labour Government says it will apply the same tests.

UK performance

In 2020, the UK was one of only seven countries reporting to the OECD that it had met the 0.7% target (PDF). Only Germany spent more than the UK on aid both in absolute terms (US$29 billion, compared to the UK’s US$19 billion) and in proportional terms (0.75% of GNI, versus 0.70%).

Since 1960, only 15 countries have ever met the UN target. Following the reduction in UK spending to 0.5%, the UK slipped from sixth in the world in 2020, to tenth in 2023 (in terms of aid as a percentage of GNI). In absolute terms (US$ equivalent), in 2023 the UK ranked fourth in the world, down one place from 2020.

The Conservative government set two tests to restore spending which Labour will also apply

In July 2021, then Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, published a statement setting out the tests required to be met to restore the 0.7% target. These are that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) shows that “on a sustainable basis” the country is not borrowing for day-to-day spending and the ratio of underlying debt to GDP is falling. The Commons voted in support of the tests in July 2021.

The Autumn 2024 forecasts by the OBR suggest these tests will not both be met at any point in the OBR’s forecast period, which ends in 2029/30. Neither the Conservative nor Labour governments have said precisely when aid spending will return to 0.7% of GNI. The Treasury previously said it expected UK aid spending to be “around 0.5%” of GNI in the next few years after 2024/25. In 2023, it was 0.58%.

Backbench attempt to restore 0.7% in 2021

In June 2021, Andrew Mitchell MP (then a backbench MP, later Minister for International Development) proposed an Amendment to the Advanced Research and Invention Agency Bill 2021-22 to restore the target from 2022. However, the Speaker determined that the amendment was outside the scope of the Bill. An emergency debate was instead held on 8 June 2021.

The Speaker said that he expected the government to “find a way [...] to allow the House to formally take an effective decision” on the 0.7% target. The Speaker said the vote held in July related to his previous statement, suggesting the requirement for the Government to hold a substantive vote had been met.

Reforming the target

In 2017, the government said it would seek to modernise the ODA rules to include some peacekeeping-related spending. No plans were announced. The International Development Committee has previously argued redefining ODA may undermine the focus on poverty reduction in aid spending.

In 2020, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact also recommended the government consider a more flexible target in order to avoid encouraging spending towards the end of the target year, which is sometimes less effective and raises value for money concerns. In 2020, the government expressed interest in considering this.

Update log

July 2024: Added note on Labour Government position and analysis on returning to 0.7%

December 2024: Added update on Labour Government policy and announcements in 2024 Budget.