Official development assistance (ODA) from member countries of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) totalled USD 185.9 billion in 2021, an increase of 8.5% in real terms over 2020.
Switzerland’s performance compared with other countries
Update of 21 December 2022
This increase is mostly due to DAC members’ support for activities to combat COVID-19, particularly in the form of vaccine donations to respond to global vaccine inequalities. If the costs for vaccines are excluded, ODA rose by 4.8% in real terms compared to 2020.
Five countries (Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Denmark) have reached the United Nations’ ODA as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) target of 0.7%. The cumulative ODA from DAC countries as a share of GNI is 0.33%.
The Swiss ODA/GNI ratio reached 0.50% in 2021, up from 0.49% in 2020. This increase is explained by two supplementary credits, one for Switzerland's international cooperation response to the pandemic and the other for the crisis in Afghanistan. Not including asylum-related costs, Switzerland's ODA/GNI ratio was 0.45% in 2021 (0.45% in 2020).
Switzerland ranks 9th in the international ranking comparing the ODA/GNI ratio of all DAC member countries. Switzerland's ratio is at the same level as the weighted average of EU countries (0.50%).
In absolute terms, the largest donors are the United States, Germany, Japan the United Kingdom and France. Switzerland ranks 12th in absolute numbers.
