Estonian development aid volume cut almost in half
Last year, Estonia provided around €100 million in development aid, nearly half of what was allocated in 2022. The drop, however, is attributed to the exceptionally large amount of aid in the year prior, which was driven by support for Ukrainian war refugees arriving in Estonia.
According to a report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), "Estonia's total official development assistance (ODA) decreased in 2023, amounting to $109.3 million (constant prices $97.7 million) or €100.1 million, which represents 0.28 percent of gross national income (GNI)." In 2022, Estonia's total development aid was $201 million (€184 million), representing 0.54 percent of GNI, according to OECD data.
"Our development funding decreased because refugee support can only be counted toward official development assistance (ODA) for one year following the arrival of a specific refugee. This means that our ODA statistics reflect a large wave of refugees in 2022, while the number of arrivals decreased in 2023," explained Brita Kikas, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, regarding the change.
Despite the significant drop in the volume of development aid last year, the proportion remains notably higher than in the years prior to 2022. This provides the OECD with grounds to note that Estonia remains on track to allocate 0.33 percent of its gross national income (GNI) to development aid by 2030. All countries that joined the European Union in 2004 have committed to this target, while the so-called older member states have pledged to reach 0.7 percent of GNI for development aid by the same year.
In 2022, Estonia provided 77.9 percent of its total development aid in the form of bilateral assistance, with 22.1 percent allocated to membership fees for international organizations. Approximately 1 percent of these contributions went toward specific projects selected by Estonia.
Detailed data for 2023 is not yet available.
According to the OECD review, Estonia ranked 20th among the 32 member countries of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in terms of the volume of aid relative to gross national income (GNI) in 2023. The DAC is a forum where issues related to aid, development and poverty reduction in developing countries are discussed, and it is considered a key platform for the world's largest donor countries.
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Editor: Mait Ots, Marcus Turovski