Support to Ukraine raises Finland’s ODA by €315m in 2022

Finland’s official development assistance (ODA) in 2022 totalled EUR 1,534 million, which is EUR 315 million higher than the amount in 2021, according to the preliminary data released by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Wednesday.

The amount represented 0.58 per cent of Finland’s gross national income (GNI), said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs referring to the OECD data, adding that Support to Ukraine increased the Finland´s OAD last year.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put pressure on ODA budgets in Finland and in many other EU Member States, especially the level of in-donor refugee costs increased in Finland.

The preliminary data showed that DAC members used EUR 15,3 billion in ODA to support Ukraine. This included EUR 1,7 billion in humanitarian assistance. In 2021, ODA support to Ukraine was 873 EUR million.

In-donor refugee costs rose the most of all Finland’s official development assistance, totalling EUR 390 million, which is nearly six times more than in 2021.

Most of this sum was spent on addressing the temporary protection needs of Ukrainians in Finland.

A significant share of Finland’s ODA in 2022 was channelled through the EU (EUR 284 million), the UN (EUR 294 million) and the World Bank Group (EUR 116 million).

An estimated EUR 356 million, representing 0.13 per cent of Finland’s GNI, was allocated to least developed countries (LDCs).

Last year, Finland granted EUR 114 million in humanitarian assistance as part of the official development assistance.

Humanitarian assistance is an efficient means of responding rapidly to sudden crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the support to Ukrainian civilians in the humanitarian crisis created by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Globally, ODA amounted to EUR 194 billion in 2022, rising by 13.6 per cent in real terms compared to 2021.

The largest donor was the United States, followed by Germany, Japan, France and the United Kingdom.

The UN agreed target of spending 0.7 per cent of GNI on ODA was exceeded by Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden. Total ODA for all DAC member countries combined as a per cent of GNI stood at 0.36 per cent.