More of UK’s foreign aid budget spent in Britain than poor countries, study finds

Much of the pot is being spent on housing Ukrainian refugees, leaving less to fund humanitarian programmes in Africa and Asia.

Rishi Sunak was criticised for slashing the foreign aid budget from 0.7% to 0.5% of national income when he was chancellor (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The UK is now spending more of its international development budget at home than in poor developing countries, experts have said.

That is because a large proportion of the pot is being spent on housing refugees, mainly from Ukraine, according to the Centre for Global Development (CGD).

Rishi Sunak was criticised for slashing the foreign aid budget from 0.7% to 0.5% of national income when he was chancellor, as well as setting a precedent for letting the Home Office and other departments use the pot, and stretching the rules on what can be counted as aid.