UK and EU face significant reductions in international development aid

Government figures reveal a significant shift in United Kingdom aid spending, with funding for the world’s poorest nations decreasing by £118 million in 2025. While assistance to least-developed and low-income countries fell by 6.7 per cent, funding for lower-middle-income countries rose by 13 per cent and upper-middle-income countries saw a 2 per cent increase. The UK’s Official Development Assistance budget declined to 0.44 per cent of Gross National Income, down from 0.5 per cent in 2024, representing an overall reduction of £987 million.

Simultaneously, the European Union is facing internal debates over potential development budget reductions. A draft seven-year budget for 2028-2034 proposes allocating €200bn to the Global Europe heading, but some member states are pushing for cuts of up to 40 per cent. Preliminary 2025 figures indicate that Official Development Assistance from EU institutions fell by 13.8 per cent, the largest drop in a decade, while ODA from the EU-27 member states dropped by 9.9 per cent. Barry Andrews, chair of the European Parliament’s development committee, described the proposed cuts as an ‘alarming’ betrayal of EU values.