Development aid

Internationalab 13 J.

Financial and technical support for poorer countries: Germany spends about €30 billion a year on development cooperation (0.7% of GDP – the UN target).

Development aid (Entwicklungshilfe, officially "development cooperation") is the financial and technical support that richer states give to economically poorer countries.

Germany's contribution:

• Approx. 30 billion euros/year (approx. €360 per inhabitant)
• Share of GDP: approx. 0.7% (UN target first reached in 2020)
• Responsible: Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
• Implementation: GIZ (German Agency for International Cooperation), KfW

What is the money used for?

• Education (schools, teacher training)
• Health (vaccination programmes, hospitals)
• Infrastructure (roads, water supply, energy)
• Climate protection (renewable energy, reforestation)
• Humanitarian aid (disaster relief, refugee aid)

Controversy: critics say too much money seeps away in corruption and bureaucracy. Supporters: development aid has lifted millions of people out of poverty (extreme poverty worldwide: from 36% in 1990 to under 10% today).

Did you know? Extreme poverty (below $2.15/day) has fallen from 36% of the world's population (1990) to below 10% (2024) – one of the greatest advances in human history.

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