New Zealand's development assistance
Our geographic focus is the Pacific. This is New Zealand's neighbourhood, and is where we have a strong foundation of partnerships, cultural and historical links, and knowledge.
We also provide support to Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. We seek to apply New Zealand's areas of knowledge and expertise in targeted support in these regions.
We also support development efforts worldwide through our support for multilateral, regional and non-government organisations.
New Zealand's aid expenditure in relation to national income
The Official Development Assistance (ODA) that New Zealand provides to developing countries each year is reported internationally and monitored by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This monitoring includes international comparison of New Zealand’s ODA expenditure as a proportion of our Gross National Income (GNI) and relative to the United Nations target for developed country ODA of 0.7% GNI.
ODA includes both expenditure controlled directly by the New Zealand Aid Programme and expenditure made by other government departments which falls within the OECD definition of ODA such as some contributions to multilateral organisations made by various government departments and humanitarian activities undertaken by the Ministry of Defence.
New Zealand’s ODA has increased in dollar terms over the period since 2011. However due to growth in the New Zealand economy, the ODA:GNI ratio fell from 0.28% in 2011 to 0.23% in 2017 before increasing to 0.28% again in 2018 but dropped slightly to 0.27 again in 2020.
NZ ODA and ODA/GNI 2011-2020
| NZ ODA $m | ODA-GNI % | |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 537.14 | 0.28 |
| 2012 | 554.59 | 0.28 |
| 2013 | 558.06 | 0.26 |
| 2014 | 610.30 | 0.27 |
| 2015 | 633.54 | 0.27 |
| 2016 | 641.90 | 0.25 |
| 2017 | 632.98 | 0.23 |
| 2018 | 803.80 | 0.28 |
| 2019 | 848.32 | 0.28 |
| 2020 | 819.99 | 0.27 |
Find out more about ODA around the world on the OECD website(external link)