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Press Release
2 October 2008
UK keeps aid promises to the world's poor
Figures published today by the DFID confirm the UK Government is keeping its
promises to fight global poverty.
Statistics on International Development (SID) 2008, published today, shows the
UK provided £4,921 million as Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the
calendar year 2007 and £6,042 million total Gross Public Expenditure on
Development (GPEX) in 2007/08.
The UK’s ODA spending is set to exceed £9 billion by 2010, representing 0.56% of
Gross National Income (GNI), a rise of more than £4 billion over the next three
years.
The UK is on track to spend 0.7% of its gross national income on development by
2013, two years ahead of the EU target.
Commenting on the figures, International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander
said:
"We are keeping our promises to the world’s poor. The UK Government is helping
to save people from preventable diseases, to send children to school, and to
lift millions of people out of poverty."
Since 2004 over half of new UK ODA, excluding debt relief, has been spent in
Africa. Early delivery of promises on debt relief for poor countries caused a
spike in the figures for 2006 with UK ODA equivalent to 0.51% of GNI.
In 2007, UK ODA was 0.36% of GNI, rising to 0.43% of GNI in 2008 and 0.48% of
GNI in 2009, on track to meet our promises. By 2010, excluding debt relief, the
UK will have spent cumulatively an additional £12.5 billion of new ODA. Over
half of this will be spent in Africa, meaning over £6 billion of new ODA.
Today’s figures also show the Gross Public Expenditure on Development (GPEX),
excluding debt relief, increased by 7% since 2006/07, an increase of £389
million.
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Douglas Alexander added:
"Last week in New York the UK Government was instrumental in re-focusing the
world’s attention the urgent need to address global poverty. I am proud that the
UK is on track to meet all the pledges it made at the historic Gleneagles summit
in 2005."
DFID’s aid has helped to:
- Take 3 million people worldwide permanently out of poverty each year
- Increase the number of children in Tanzania who are enrolled in school – now 9 out of 10, compared to fewer than 6 out of 10 in 1999
- Reduce the level of poverty in Mozambique from 70% to 55% and double the number of children in school between 2000-5
- Save an estimated 30,000 lives in Afghanistan with an extensive polio and immunization programme
Notes to editors
- Read Statistics on International Development 2008.
- Gross Public Expenditure on Development (GPEX) shows all the development aid flows from all official UK sources. It includes DFID programme expenditure, aid from other UK Government Departments, investments from the UK body that invests in the private sector in developing countries (CDC Capital Partners) and debt relief from the Export Credit and Guarantee Department (ECGD).
- ODA is the internationally agreed classification of aid and is broadly equivalent to GPEX except it is reported on a net basis and excludes some small elements of expenditure which do not meet the ODA definition . The primary reason for the decline in UK ODA in 2007 is the result of lower levels of debt relief but the UK is still on track. In 2006 the UK gave more than £1.9 billion in debt relief, primarily to Nigeria and Iraq; this fell to £39 million in 2007.
- At the G8 meeting at Gleneagles in 2005 hosted by the UK, the world’s richest countries agreed to a doubling of aid by 2010 – an extra $50 billion worldwide and £25 billion for Africa.