Countries by Grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$)

Ranking 2023

Analysis

This metric measures grants received, excluding technical cooperation, reported in the balance of payments as current US dollars. The World Bank defines grants as transfers made in cash, goods or services for which no repayment is required. For ODA reporting purposes, they also include forgiveness of non-military debt, support to non-governmental organisations, certain interest subsidies, and certain costs incurred in the implementation of aid. Grants to multilateral agencies intended to soften the terms of the latter's lending are a direct resource transfer and are counted here. Technical cooperation is excluded, distinguishing this measure from broader aid flows. Data cover 140 countries for 2023, with 97.1 percent of countries reporting in the latest year and 97.9 percent having data from within the last seven years. All datapoints carry official data quality status. Seventeen extreme outliers were identified at the three-standard-deviation threshold.

The top of the ranking is concentrated among countries experiencing acute conflict or large-scale displacement. Ukraine leads at $16,639,944,909 (rank 1), followed by the Syrian Arab Republic at $8,909,847,558 (rank 2) and Ethiopia at $4,458,190,224 (rank 3). Yemen ($4,051,292,199, rank 4), West Bank and Gaza ($3,376,420,902, rank 5), and the Democratic Republic of Congo ($3,118,985,476, rank 6) round out the top six. Pakistan (rank 7, $3,074,336,558), Afghanistan (rank 8, $3,018,291,203), Mozambique (rank 9, $2,783,862,246), and Somalia (rank 10, $2,295,629,514) complete the top ten. High rankings correspond with countries that have large populations, ongoing instability, or significant humanitarian needs as reflected in the data.

The middle of the ranking includes a diverse set of lower-income and lower-middle-income countries. Senegal (rank 37, $691,112,976), Moldova (rank 40, $667,360,633), and India (rank 42, $645,378,387) sit within a narrow band. India's relatively low rank despite its large population is notable: it receives less in grants than Malawi (rank 20, $1,361,163,958), which has a far smaller population. China appears at rank 106 with just $103,417,845. At the lower end, countries such as Grenada (rank 139, $4,496,419) and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (rank 140, $4,305,833) record values below $5 million. Uruguay (rank 137, $9,256,245) and Antigua and Barbuda (rank 138, $5,409,146) also fall near the bottom, reflecting limited grant receipts among more economically stable small states.

Several limitations apply to this metric. Grant flows can be highly volatile from year to year; the average year-over-year change across this dataset is 29.3 percent, which means a single year's snapshot may not represent typical receipts. The metric covers only grants excluding technical cooperation, so countries receiving large volumes of in-kind technical assistance will appear lower than their total aid inflows would suggest. Debt forgiveness included under ODA definitions can inflate single-year figures. The raw absolute value used here does not adjust for population size or GDP, so larger or more populous countries tend to rank higher regardless of per-capita need. Reporting practices vary across countries and donors, and the data reflect what is captured in balance-of-payments frameworks, which may not encompass all grant flows.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code BX.GRT.EXTA.CD.WD, for the reference year 2023. The metric is reported in absolute current US dollars, where higher values indicate greater grant receipts. The World Bank defines grants as transfers made in cash, goods or services for which no repayment is required. For ODA reporting purposes, they also include forgiveness of non-military debt, support to non-governmental organisations, certain interest subsidies, and certain costs incurred in the implementation of aid. Grants to multilateral agencies intended to soften the terms of the latter's lending are a direct resource transfer counted in this indicator. Technical cooperation is excluded. The ranking covers 140 countries. Of these, 136 of 140 (97.1 percent) report data for 2023, and 137 of 140 (97.9 percent) have data from within the last seven years. All 100 percent of datapoints are classified as official quality. Seventeen extreme outliers were identified using a three-standard-deviation threshold. The value range spans $4,305,833 to $16,639,944,909, a spread of over 386,000 percent. Average year-over-year volatility is 29.3 percent, indicating that annual figures can shift substantially and single-year rankings should be interpreted with caution.

Sources

• World Bank