How much does the UK spend on overseas aid?
The UK spent £13.0bn on overseas aid in 2025, 0.43% of national income. That is down from 0.70% in 2013. The government has said it will cut aid to 0.3% by 2027.
In 2025 (provisional). The most: £15.3bn (2023).
Aid as a share of gross national income, 2025.
Aid over time
What’s this?
What the UK government spent on official development assistance (aid) to help poorer countries, in billions of pounds at the prices of the time.
What it cannot tell you: The latest year is provisional. Aid counts money the government spends, including some spent in the UK on supporting refugees in their first year, so it is not all spent abroad.
What’s this?
UK aid as a share of everything the UK earns (gross national income). The UK's legal target was 0.7% until 2021, then 0.5%, and the government has said it will cut it to 0.3% by 2027.
What it cannot tell you: The latest year is provisional. Aid counts money the government spends, including some spent in the UK on supporting refugees in their first year, so it is not all spent abroad.
Year by year
| Period | UK overseas aid spending | UK overseas aid as a share of national income |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | £13.0bn | 0.43% |
| 2024 | £14.1bn | 0.50% |
| 2023 | £15.3bn | 0.58% |
| 2022 | £12.8bn | 0.51% |
| 2021 | £11.4bn | 0.50% |
| 2020 | £14.5bn | 0.70% |
| 2019 | £15.2bn | 0.70% |
| 2018 | £14.5bn | 0.70% |
| 2017 | £14.1bn | 0.70% |
| 2016 | £13.4bn | 0.70% |
| 2015 | £12.1bn | 0.70% |
| 2014 | £11.7bn | 0.70% |
Questions people ask
How much does the UK spend on foreign aid?
£13.0bn in 2025, which is 0.43% of the UK's gross national income (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office).
What was the 0.7% target?
A UK law set in 2015 required 0.7% of national income to be spent on aid. The target was suspended in 2021, and the government set it at 0.5% and said in 2025 it would cut to 0.3% by 2027.
Is all of it spent abroad?
No. Official development assistance rules let donors count the first year of support for refugees at home.
What does “uk overseas aid spending” measure?
What the UK government spent on official development assistance (aid) to help poorer countries, in billions of pounds at the prices of the time. It was £13.0bn (£ billion a year) in 2025, down 10% on 2020. The highest we have is £15.3bn (2023) and the lowest £0.2bn (1970).
What does “uk overseas aid as a share of national income” measure?
UK aid as a share of everything the UK earns (gross national income). The UK's legal target was 0.7% until 2021, then 0.5%, and the government has said it will cut it to 0.3% by 2027. It was 0.43% (% of gross national income) in 2025, down 0.27 points on 2020. The highest we have is 0.70% (2013) and the lowest 0.24% (1999).
Sources: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Statistics on International Development. Updated every night. Each chart has a CSV and a Share button.
See also: Armed forces · Government money