According to the coalition agreement, the government wanted to put more money into development aid for the poorest countries. Now spending has fallen again. Because of the dispute over the budget, it could be even less.
German development aid for the world’s poorest countries has recently fallen slightly again. According to the most recent figures from 2022, the group of particularly economically weak developing countries benefited around 4.8 billion euros. This emerges from the federal government’s answer to an oral question from the left-wing Bundestag member Cornelia Möhring, which was available to the Evangelical Press Service. According to the information, the sum corresponded to 0.12 percent of gross national income.
What is Gross National Income?
Gross national income (GNI) records all income of residents and resident economic entities, regardless of whether this income was earned domestically or comes from abroad. This is the main difference to the gross domestic product (GDP), for which the place of production of the goods and thus the domestic principle is decisive. In this context, all persons and entities whose residence or focus of economic interest is in the economic area are considered to be residents – regardless of their nationality.
In 2021, Germany gave more than 5.1 billion euros to these countries, which corresponded to 0.14 percent of gross national income. No figures are yet available for the past year 2023.
Coalition goal missed
The SPD, Greens and FDP had actually agreed in the coalition agreement to give 0.2 percent of economic output annually to the poorest countries in the world. The traffic light coalition failed to achieve this goal. Möhring spoke of a “permanent breach of word” because Germany had never met the 0.2 percent target.
The poorest countries are classified by the UN as Least Developed Countries (LDC) designated. The group currently includes 45 countries, 33 of which are in Africa. Low economic income and other factors such as child mortality are crucial.
Current debate about the budget
In the debate about the 2025 federal budget, Federal Finance Minister Lindner called for rigorous austerity measures and, among other things, called on the Development Ministry to review its spending policy. You have to talk about accuracy and scope there. The left-wing politician Möhring criticized these proposals for cuts. These are a “populist sleight of hand at the expense of the weakest,” she said.
The Ministry of Development has announced needs of 12.16 billion euros for 2025. The Ministry of Finance had originally earmarked 9.9 billion euros. The budget for the Federal Development Ministry and humanitarian aid had already been reduced for the 2024 budget compared to the previous year.
Development aid to the poorest countries in the world is only part of the total development aid that Germany provides. According to the coalition agreement, the traffic light wants to invest 0.7 percent of the gross national product in development aid. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the government achieved this goal in 2022.