Global Aid Plummets 23% in 2025, Threatening Millions of Lives

Event summary

  • OECD data shows a 23% decline in global official development assistance (ODA) from 2024 to 2025, the largest single-year reduction in decades.
  • ISGlobal research, supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, projects that this decline could lead to 9.4 million preventable deaths by 2030, including 2.5 million children under five.
  • The U.S., U.K., France, and Germany have reduced development assistance for two consecutive years, a first in nearly three decades.
  • The Rockefeller Foundation is urging governments, the private sector, and philanthropy to coordinate urgently to protect decades of progress in global aid.

The big picture

The unprecedented decline in global aid marks a significant departure from decades of international cooperation, threatening to reverse progress in global health and development. The Rockefeller Foundation's call for coordinated action highlights the urgent need for new models of development financing, as traditional donor nations reduce their commitments. The scale of the potential impact—9.4 million preventable deaths by 2030—underscores the critical nature of this shift in global aid dynamics.

What we're watching

Governance Dynamics
Whether donor governments will recommit to international cooperation and reverse the trend of declining ODA.
Execution Risk
The pace at which The Rockefeller Foundation and its partners can mobilize private capital and innovative financing models to offset the aid decline.
Strategic Shifts
How the shift in financing flows, particularly China's transition from net provider to net extractor, will impact low- and middle-income countries.