Foreign Ministry highlights that Spanish Official Development Assistance has reached “its highest level in fifteen years”

The Diplomat The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has highlighted the 13 percent increase in Spanish investment allocated to Official Development Assistance (ODA) during 2025, which has allowed Spain to reach “the highest figure in the last fifteen years” in a global context of a sharp decline in this type of aid. According to preliminary data for the previous year, announced last Thursday by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the contribution from all Spanish public administrations exceeded €4.55 billion in 2025, “€529 million more than the previous year and the highest figure in Spain in the last 15 years.” “With this, the Spanish contribution represents the second largest year-on-year increase of all member states, and Spain is once again above the DAC average,” the Ministry continued. Spanish Cooperation thus ranks eleventh in total ODA volume within the OECD, moving up one place compared to the previous year. The trend that began in 2024, which continues with the 2025 data, represents a historic drop in ODA. 2025 saw the largest year-on-year decrease in the history of the DAC, at 26.4 percent (23.1 percent in real terms) globally. “Faced with this worrying global trend, Spain is leading the growth in ODA,” stated Minister José Manuel Albares, who recalled the commitment made with Law 1/2023 on Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Global Solidarity, and specified in the Spanish Cooperation Master Plan 2024-2027. “Spain is increasing its contribution at a critical time and playing a countercyclical role, which positions us as a reliable and strategic partner that helps mitigate the impacts of the cuts and as a global actor that is fulfilling its commitment to the international cooperation system and the multilateral system as a whole,” Albares added. “In a critical global context due to the increase in conflicts and the reduction in funding, Spain’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) has reached its highest level in the last fifteen years,” he wrote on social media. State and decentralized ODA The volume of ODA managed by the General State Administration in 2025 increased from 3.6 billion to 4.116 billion euros, representing a 14 percent increase. This figure accounts for 90 percent of Spanish ODA, almost one percentage point higher than the previous year. Of these funds, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation increased its Official Development Assistance (ODA) volume by €184 million, exceeding €1.022 billion and consolidating its position as the second largest manager of these funds, with more than 22 percent of the total, second only to the Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for channeling Spain's contribution to the European Union budget. The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), attached to the Ministry through the State Secretariat for International Cooperation, increased its ODA budget for another year, exceeding €610 million, the highest figure since 2011. Furthermore, estimates indicate that decentralized cooperation accounts for slightly less than ten percent of total ODA. Regarding the contributions of the Autonomous Communities, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, and the Basque Country remain the largest contributors of ODA to overall Spanish Cooperation. The Canary Islands and Galicia are the regions that most increased their contributions in 2025. Furthermore, data provided by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) indicates that aid flows from local governments remain at similar absolute levels to the previous year, at around 2.13 percent of total Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2025. Meanwhile, according to data provided by the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE), public universities are estimated to continue contributing around 0.25 percent of Spanish ODA.

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