Einar H. Dyvik
Research expert covering Nordics and global data for society, economy, and politics
Development aid in the Nordics - Statistics & Facts
Development aid is financial support from a donor country to a recipient with the purpose to improve living conditions and foster economic development in the recipient country. It can come both in terms of grants, meaning that the sum does not have to be repaid by the recipient, and loans, which have to be repaid. Development aid can be distributed either directly from the donor country to the recipient country, called bilateral aid, or via international organizations and development banks such as the World Bank or different United Nations (UN) agencies, called multilateral aid. Moreover, the amount can be allocated to specific sectors or projects, or be unallocated, meaning that the recipient has more autonomy over how to use the means. All development aid distributed by states or other public actors are called official development assistance (ODA) and accounts for around 80 percent of the development aid in the world today. However, aid can also come from other private donors such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which play an important role in international development aid.
