The UK is set to dramatically increase aid to a number of British Overseas Territories at the same time as making major cuts to some of the world’s poorest nations, a new analysis has found.
Last month, the government revealed sweeping cuts in aid spending that hit African countries particularly hard, following Keir Starmer’s announcement in 2025 that the UK would cut its aid budget from 0.5 to 0.3 per cent of Gross National income (GNI) by 2028 in order to boost defence spending.
At the same time, British Overseas Territories - remnants of the British Empire, which are in effect a handful of tiny islands around the world - are set to see funding they receive increase by a massive 41 per cent, new analysis from the Center for Global Development (CGD) think tank has found.
The three territories, Montserrat, Saint Helena and Pitcairn - which collectively have a population of 8,459 - are set to receive overseas aid funding worth £130 million in the 2026/7 financial year, compared to overseas aid spending of £92m in 2024/5, and an average of £65m per year over the period 2020 to 2024.
Meanwhile, the African continent - with a population of more than 1.5 billion - is set to see its UK bilateral aid decline by around 50 per cent between 2024/5 and 2026/7, from £1.6bn to £0.8bn.
“The FCDO is still choosing to double support to its overseas territories while slashing funds for some of the world’s poorest countries, and that is the bit that really jars,” Euan Ritchie, one of the authors of the CGD analysis, told The Independent.
“These are small, relatively wealthy places, yet they are getting around £130 million, about twice what they were getting over the past few years,” he added. “That's more than what the FCDO are allocating to Sudan, a country facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, and with a population more than 5000 times bigger."
British Overseas Territories include numerous islands across the Pacific, Atlantic, and Caribbean, with most - including the Cayman Islands and Bermuda - classified as wealthy countries.
Only two of the territories, Montserrat and Saint Helena , technically remain overseas aid-eligible according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), while the tiny Pacific island of Pitcairn also receives UK aid, according to CGD, despite it technically not being assessed as overseas aid-eligible. CGD also points out that Montserrat is set to graduate from OECD overseas aid eligibility in 2026, by qualifying as a high income country for three consecutive years.
“The amount of aid to the overseas territories has always been disproportionate relative to their wealth and population, but in the past it was a relatively minor concern: reallocating the £60-£80 million or so would not have made a huge difference to the budgets of other countries,” CGD wrote in a blog post.
“But after years of steep cuts to other programmes, this is no longer a trivial allocation decision. The UK should find another budget to fulfil its commitments to these territories, rather than taking even more out of an already decimated aid budget.”
In response to this article, a spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “The UK has had a long-standing commitment under successive governments to meet the reasonable needs of non-financially self-sufficient Overseas Territories (OTs).
“Many are small communities, living on islands that are difficult to access, who are not eligible for support from other aid donors. That assistance reflects both our close historic ties with the OT communities, and our international and constitutional obligations.”
This article was produced as part of The Independent’s Rethinking Global Aid project
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