UK aid spend falls by over £1 billion in 2025 as over 18% of budget diverted towards asylum support costs

Today, Thursday 9 April, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) published its provisional statistics on how UK aid was spent in 2025. 

This annual publication provides an overview of the provisional UK aid spend in the calendar year 2025, and reveals that total UK ODA (Official Development Assistance) fell by over £1 billion to just 0.43% of GNI in 2025 – a 7.4% decrease on the previous year. Over 18% of the budget continued to be spent in the UK to cover asylum and refugee costs in 2025 – down only marginally from 2024 despite a drastically reduced UK aid budget and increasing global humanitarian need. 

Today’s statistics also reveal that:   

• Bilateral spending fell from £11.27bn in 2024 to £10.26bn in 2025 – a reduction of 9%  

• Humanitarian assistance as part of bilateral ODA decreased by 11% from £1.45bn (10.3%) in 2024 to £1.29bn (9.9%) in 2025. 

• Region-specific bilateral ODA to Africa increased slightly from £1.6bn in 2024 (50.6% of region-specific bilateral ODA) to £1.69bn in 2025 (53.3%) 

• Region-specific bilateral ODA to Asia decreased from £1.18bn in 2024 (37.2%) to £1.03bn in 2025 (32.5%) 

• Region-specific bilateral ODA to Europe remained relatively steady with £279mn (8.8%) in 2025 in comparison to £267mn (8.4%) in 2024 

• Region-specific bilateral ODA to Americas increased slightly from £105mn (3.3%) in 2024 to £150mn (4.7%) in 2025 

• Region-specific bilateral ODA to Pacific increased slightly from £13mn (0.4%) in 2024 to £20mn (0.6%) in 2025 

• In-donor refugee costs fell from £2.8bn (20.1% of total ODA) in 2024 to £2.4bn (18.3%) in 2025 – a decrease of 15% 

• Multilateral spending fell from £2.81bn in 2024 to £2.78bn in 2025 – a reduction of 1% 

The provisional statistics follow recent allocations of the UK ODA budget for 2026/2027, laid out by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper MP in March, and which represent the steepest decline in the UK aid budget since Starmer’s cuts were announced. The allocations reveal that regional bilateral UK aid to Africa will decline by 56% from 2024/25 to 2028/29, as a result of Starmer’s decision to cut the UK aid budget. The government’s own Equality Impact assessment confirms that expected cuts will leave children, people with disabilities and older people across Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia more vulnerable. 

OECD figures also published today paint a bleak picture of the global ODA landscape, as total ODA from Development Assistance Committee members fell by 23.1% – the largest decline on record, down to levels not seen since 2015. The UK, alongside Germany, Japan, France and the US, contributed 95.7% of the total decline in ODA.

The figures show that, among DAC members, in-donor refugee costs average 13.2% of total ODA spend. With over 18% of the total UK aid budget spent on these costs in the UK, it’s clear the UK government remains an outlier among donors and must do more to reduce the amount of UK aid diverted to asylum support in-country.

Gideon Rabinowitz, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Bond, the UK network for NGOs working in international development, said:   

“Today’s statistics lay bare the severe damage already caused by Labour’s cuts to the UK aid budget – soon to be the steepest of any G7 country in the coming year. Funding to support communities facing conflict and crisis worldwide fell by over £1 billion in 2025, as 18% of the budget continued to be diverted to cover asylum costs in the UK.  

Lifesaving humanitarian programmes, including education provision in Syria and healthcare programmes across Africa, have already been forced to close, and, with even deeper cuts still to be implemented this year and next, the worst consequences are yet to be realised. What is clear is that marginalised communities, particularly across Africa, will continue to pay the highest price for these political choices. 

Amid a drastically reduced UK aid budget, we are also concerned that £2.4 billion – over 18% – of the UK aid budget was still diverted to cover asylum accommodation costs in the UK in 2025. It is vital that refugees and asylum seekers in the UK receive adequate support, but this money must come from the Home Office’s own budget, rather than from funds intended to be spent on people in humanitarian need in the world’s lowest income countries.  

These cuts are costing lives and leaving us all more vulnerable to a world with more disease, conflict and crises. Instead of leading the retreat from our international commitments, now is the time for the UK to step up and urgently rebuild its shattered reputation on the global stage. We call on the UK government to ensure UK aid is focused on tackling global challenges, and in countries where it is needed the most. Ahead of its G20 leadership, and upcoming Global Partnerships Conference, the UK must also commit to much-needed reform to global economic systems to address conditions that prevent low-income countries from investing in their own public services.” 

Notes to Editors 

1. The provisional Statistics on International Development for 2025 can be found here. 

2. Allocations of the UK ODA budget for 2026/27-2028/29 can be found here. 

3. Bond has previously called for an end to Home Office use of UK aid budget on in-country asylum support, 

4. Bond unites and supports a diverse network of over 330 civil society organisations from across the UK, and allies to help eradicate global poverty, inequality and injustice. 

5. For further information or interviews, please get in touch with Emily Loynes at [email protected] or 07909947850