Useless Facts: International Aid
Tuesday November 21st 2006, 6:26 pm
Filed under: Canadian Politics, American Politics, Useful Facts, - International Aid

LARGEST INTERNATIONAL AID DONORS
(as % of GDP)

1. Norway 0.87%
2. Denmark 0.85%
3. Luxemburg 0.83%
4. Sweden 0.78%
5. Netherlands 0.73%
6. Saudi Arabia 0.69%
7. Portugal 0.63%
8. Belgium 0.41%
8. France 0.41%
8. Switzerland 0.41%
15. Canada 0.27%
23. United States 0.17%

Note that just 5 countries exceed the 0.7% of GDP standard recommended by Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. This is also the level that donating countries agreed to spend 36 years ago:

“In recognition of the special importance of the role which can be fulfilled only by official development assistance, a major part of financial resource transfers to the developing countries should be provided in the form of official development assistance. Each economically advanced country will progressively increase its official development assistance to the developing countries and will exert its best efforts to reach a minimum net amount of 0.7 per cent of its gross national product at market prices by the middle of the Decade.” — International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade, UN General Assembly Resolution 2626 (XXV), October 24, 1970, para. 43.
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