Korea's official development assistance declines 3.9 percent to $3.87 billion in 2025
Published: 10 Apr. 2026, 16:33
![Kim Young-su, first vice minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, speaks during a briefing held in Jongno District on March 24. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/10/77d6ada9-6b3a-49a1-ab97-19cfb334e2ad.jpg)
Kim Young-su, first vice minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, speaks during a briefing held in Jongno District on March 24. [YONHAP]
Korea's official development assistance (ODA) posted an on-year decrease of 3.9 percent to $3.87 billion in 2025, due to a weak exchange rate and reduced multilateral aid, the government said Friday.
Citing preliminary data from the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Office for Government Policy Coordination said Korea's ODA last year consisted of $3.21 billion in bilateral aid and $660 million in multilateral aid.
While bilateral aid increased on-year by $22 million, multilateral aid in areas such as health, transportation and logistics contracted 21.1 percent over the same period due to the base effect of temporarily increased assistance to Ukraine.
Korea's standing among the 33 DAC member states remained unchanged at 13th place in terms of total ODA, the office said in a press release.
As a proportion of gross national income, the country's aid level was 0.20 percent, similar to the previous year's 0.21 percent.
The office also noted that, compared to other major donor nations, such as the United States, Germany and Britain, Korea's 3.9 percent decline was muted.
In total, DAC member states offered $174.3 billion in ODA last year, marking the biggest on-year decline of 19 percent since the program began.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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