Global overseas aid climbs to all-time high, rising 4.4% in real terms – OECD

Parents and children in Kathmandu, Nepal, queue to receive Pfizer Covid shots donated by the US government. Photograph: Narendra Shrestha/EPA

Overseas aid reached an all-time high last year as the wealthiest countries responded to the Covid pandemic, according to preliminary figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

But there were concerns that the war in Ukraine will impact aid spending by members of the OECD’s development assistance committee (DAC) in 2022, as they continue to help poor countries recover from the pandemic and handle the consequences of the conflict.