What will fit in the 0.3% aid budget?
The official development assistance (ODA) budget for 2027 is estimated to be £9.2 billion; but with existing commitments, security concerns, and promises to protect certain aid sectors, it seems impossible to avoid costs while paying £3bn to house asylum seekers. Scroll to the next page for more details ->
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| FCDO | £6,528,000,000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Of which, already budgeted | £5,365,000,000 | |
| Global Health | £459,000,000 | Key priority/not-cuttable |
| Legally binding multilateral funding | £365,000,000 | Key priority/not-cuttable |
| Climate - multilateral | £675,000,000 | Key priority/not-cuttable |
| General environmental protection | £352,000,000 | Key priority/not-cuttable |
| MDBs (climate/health/fragility) | £690,000,000 | Key priority/not-cuttable |
| Other core or multilateral funding | £119,000,000 | Could cut without breaking public pledges |
| Financial transactions | £847,000,000 | Key priority/not-cuttable |
| Domestic spending (admin/scholarships/gov institutions) | £889,000,000 | Key priority/not-cuttable |
| Humanitarian budgeted | £133,000,000 | Could cut without breaking public pledges |
| Broader development support to Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine | £76,000,000 | Key priority/not-cuttable |
| Global education | £175,000,000 | Could cut without breaking public pledges |
| Social protection | £38,000,000 | Could cut without breaking public pledges |
| Government & Civil Society | £168,000,000 | Could cut without breaking public pledges |
| Water Supply & Sanitation | £29,000,000 | Could cut without breaking public pledges |
| Other bilateral spending | £350,000,000 | Could cut without breaking public pledges |
All analysis estimated by Save the Children. Figures taken from DFID results estimates; FCDO reporting to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), accessed March 2025; Statistics on International Development: final UK ODA spend 2023; IMF World Economic Outlook database. £3bn cost of asylum seekers in 2027 estimated by Center for Global Development.
