Korea’s total ODA exceeds $3 bil. in 2023

Korea’s total official development assistance (ODA) increased in 2023 due to a rise in its contributions to multilateral organizations including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, preliminary data by the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) showed Sunday.

Korea’s total ODA increased to $3.1 billion in 2023, up 11.4 percent from a year earlier. This represents 0.18 percent of the nation’s gross national income (GNI). Korea ranked 14th among 31 DAC member countries in terms of ODA size.

About 74 percent of Korea’s ODA went to bilateral projects to support social infrastructure in education, health and public administration as well as provide humanitarian assistance in developing countries, while 26 percent of it went to multilateral organizations, including investments and contributions to the World Bank and IMF.

Humanitarian aid to Ukraine continued to increase following the previous year. The total ODA from 31 DAC member countries reached $223.7 billion, up 6.2 percent from $210.7 billion won the previous year.

“The government plans to continue to expand the ODA budget in the future to actively respond to growing demand for international development cooperation, such as providing humanitarian assistance for people caught up in conflicts and natural disasters around the world and responding to climate change. We plan to implement strategic ODA projects in line with foreign policy,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

Korea has set this year’s budget for ODA at a record high of $4.7 billion in a move to increase its influence and presence in the international community.