The Largest Humanitarian Donors

Who is the world's largest humanitarian donor?  From year to year, the figures vary on how much governments and supranational organizations contribute to emergency humanitarian aid worldwide. One country is contributing much more, while other governments keep a low profile. But there are also some stable trends over several years. Different calculations lead to slightly diverging results. DONARE's rankings are based on financial data provided by the United Nations.

Long-Term Trends

  • The United States (US) is the world’s leading international humanitarian donor. The US is then followed on second place by the European Union.  The European Commission and the EU member states together are the most important international donor of humanitarian aid alongside the United States.
  • Usually, another representation is chosen. If the European institutions (especially the European Commission) are considered separately from the member states, a slightly different picture emerges. Then the United States of America ranks number 1 as the largest donor country, followed regularly by Germany as the second largest donor of humanitarian aid. According to this view, the European Union institutions are in third place among international donors. The European Commission and Germany sometimes change places regarding second and third rank.  
  • The United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Japan and Switzerland usually make it into the top ten. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are also important humanitarian donors.
  • In terms of share of gross domestic product (GDP), Norway, Sweden and Switzerland stand out in particular as they invest an above-average percentage of GDP in international humanitarian aid.

OCHA Financial Tracking System (FTS)

The United Nations (UN) are tracking humanitarian donor contributions channelled by governments through UN agencies, UN funds, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The system is called Financial Tracking System (FTS) and provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Largest Donors of Humanitarian Aid in 2023

According to FTS data, as of March 2023, the U.S. ranks No. 1 as the largest donor country in 2023, followed by Germany second place. The European Commission is the third largest donor of humanitarian aid this year. Japan is in fourth place. The United Kingdom ranks sixth. 

The ten largest governmental donors in 2023

  1. United States of America
  2. Germany
  3. European Commission
  4. Japan
  5. Canada
  6. United Kingdom
  7. World Bank
  8. Sweden
  9. Netherlands
  10. Asian Development Bank

Largest Donors of Humanitarian Aid in 2022

According to FTS data, the U.S. ranked No. 1 as the largest donor country in 2022, followed by Germany second place. The European Commission was the third largest donor of humanitarian aid. The United Kingdom ranked fifth. Japan was in fourth place (up from seventh in 2021).

The ten largest governmental donors in 2022

  1. United States of America
  2. Germany
  3. European Commission
  4. Japan
  5. United Kingdom
  6. Canada
  7. Sweden
  8. Saudi Arabia
  9. Norway
  10. Switzerland

Largest Donors of Humanitarian Aid in 2021

According to FTS data, the U.S. ranked No. 1 as the largest donor country in 2021, followed by the European Commission second place. Germany was the third largest donor of humanitarian aid. The UK was in eighth place (down from fourth in 2020); Sweden ranked fourth.

The ten largest governmental donors in 2021

  1. United States of America
  2. European Commission
  3. Germany
  4. Sweden
  5. Canada
  6. Norway
  7. Japan
  8. United Kingdom
  9. Switzerland
  10. United Arab Emirates

Largest Donors of Humanitarian Aid in 2020

According to FTS data, the United States, Germany, and the European Commission were the top three donors in the year 2020. The United Kingdom ranked fourth.

The ten largest governmental donors in 2020

  1. United States of America
  2. Germany
  3. European Commission
  4. United Kingdom
  5. Japan
  6. Sweden
  7. Saudi Arabia
  8. Norway
  9. Canada
  10. Switzerland

Please note:  These rankings were compiled by DONARE based on FTC data for 2020-2022 and preliminary data for 2023.

Further information

UN OCHA: Financial Tracking System (FTS)
https://fts.unocha.org/