The coverage of the data presented in this report has changed in recent years. The main points are:
Changes in the ODA concept and the coverage of GNI
While the definition of official development assistance has not changed since 1972, some changes in interpretation have tended to broaden the scope of the concept. The main ones are the recording of administrative costs as ODA (from 1979), the imputation as ODA of the share of subsidies to educational systems representing the cost of educating students from aid recipient countries (first specifically identified in 1984), and the inclusion of assistance provided by donor countries in the first year after the arrival of a refugee from an aid recipient country (eligible to be reported from the early 1980s but widely used only since 1991).
Precise quantification of the effects of these changes is difficult because changes in data collection methodology and coverage are often not directly apparent from members' statistical returns. The amounts involved can, however, be substantial. For example, reporting by Canada in 1993 included for the first time a figure for in-Canada refugee support. The amount involved (USD 184 m) represented almost 8% of total Canadian ODA. Aid flows reported by Australia in the late 1980s, it has been estimated, were some 12% higher than had they been calculated according to the rules and procedures applying fifteen years earlier.3
The coverage of national income has also been expanding through the inclusion of new areas of economic activity and the improvement of collection methods. In particular, the 1993 system of national accounts (SNA) co-sponsored by the OECD and other major international organisations broadens the coverage of GNP, now renamed GNI - gross national income. This tends to depress donors' ODA/GNI ratios. Norway's and Denmark's ODA/GNI ratios declined by 6 to 8% as a result of moving to the new SNA in the mid-1990s. Finland and Australia later showed smaller falls of 2 to 4%, while some other countries showed little change. The average fall has been about 3%. All DAC members are now using the new SNA.
Recipient country coverage
Since 1990, the following entities were added to the list of ODA recipients at the dates shown: the Black Communities of South Africa (1991 - now simply South Africa); Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (1992); Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan (1993); Palestinian Administered Areas (1994); Moldova (1997); Belarus, Libya and Ukraine (2005).
Over the same period, the following countries and territories were removed from the list of ODA recipients at the dates shown: Portugal (1991); French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion and St-Pierre and Miquelon (1992); Greece (1994); Bahamas, Brunei, Kuwait, Qatar, Singapore and United Arab Emirates (1996); Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Chinese Taipei, Cyprus, Falkland Islands, Hong Kong (China), and Israel (1997); Aruba, the British Virgin Islands, French Polynesia, Gibraltar, Korea, Libya, Macao, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia and the Northern Marianas (2000); Malta and Slovenia (2003); Bahrain (2005); Turks and Caicos Islands and Saudi Arabia (2008).
From 1993 to 2004, several CEEC/NIS countries in transition and more advanced developing countries were included on a separate list of recipients of "official aid" . This list has now been abolished.
Donor country coverage
Spain and Portugal joined the DAC in 1991, Luxembourg joined in 1992 and Greece joined in 1999. Their assistance is now counted within the DAC total. ODA flows from these countries before they joined the DAC have been added to earlier years' data where available. The accession of new members has added to total DAC ODA, but has usually reduced the overall ODA/GNI ratio, since their programmes are often smaller in relation to GNI than those of the longer-established donors.
Treatment of debt forgiveness
The treatment of the forgiveness of loans not originally reported as ODA varied in earlier years. Up to and including 1992, where forgiveness of non-ODA debt met the tests of ODA it was reportable as ODA. From 1990 to 1992 inclusive it remained reportable as part of a country's ODA, but was excluded from the DAC total. The amounts so treated are shown in the table below. From 1993, forgiveness of debt originally intended for military purposes has been reportable as "Other Official Flows" , whereas forgiveness of other non-ODA loans (mainly export credits) recorded as ODA is included both in country data and in total DAC ODA in the same way as it was until 1989.
The forgiveness of outstanding loan principal originally reported as ODA does not give rise to a new net disbursement of ODA. Statistically, the benefit is reflected in the fact that because the cancelled repayments will not take place, net ODA disbursements will not be reduced.
Table ADD NUMBER Debt forgiveness of non-ODA claims1
Note : These data are included in the ODA figures of individual countries but are excluded from DAC total ODA in all tables showing performance by donor. See Notes on Definitions and Measurement.
All data in this publication refer to calendar years, unless otherwise stated.
Table ADD NUMBER DAC List of ODA Recipients
Effective for reporting on 2008 flows
Least Developed Countries
Other Low Income Countries (per capita GNI < USD 935 in 2007)
Lower Middle Income Countries and Territories (per capita GNI USD 936-3 705 in 2007)
Upper Middle Income Countries and Territories (per capita GNI USD 3 706-11 455 in 2007)
1. Antigua and Barbuda and Oman exceeded the high income country threshold in 2007. In accordance with the DAC rules for revision of this List, both will graduate from the List in 2011 if they remain high income countries until 2010.
2. Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago exceeded the high income country threshold in 2006 and 2007. In accordance with the DAC rules for revision of this List, both will graduate from the List in 2011 if they remain high income countries until 2010.
3. At present aid to Kosovo is recorded under aid to Serbia. Kosovo will be listed separately if and when it is recognised by the UN.
4. * Territory.
5. As of July 2009, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) are : Afghanistan, Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Dem. Rep.), Congo (Rep.), Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.