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On average, government aid from rich nations now amounts to less than one third of 1% of GNP - or $70 a year from each person in the industrialized world. Put another way, the rich world spends more on wine than on aid for development.
As for the poor world's dependence, one obvious measure is the amount received as a proportion of the GNP of the developing countries. For the 50 poorest countries, aid received amounts to about 11% of GNP. But for all other developing nations, aid contributes an average of less than 1% of GNP.
Another measure of dependence is aid as a proportion of total government revenues. In Zambia, 70% of government revenue comes from foreign aid. In India, the proportion is about 4%.
The tables are based on data from a limited number of countries.
Aid and health
Aid for health as a percentage of government spending on health,
1990
Highest Lowest ------------------------------------------------------------ Sub-Saharan Africa Mozambique 52.9 Zambia 4.9 Uganda 48.4 Côte d'Ivoire 3.4 Middle East and North Africa Sudan 13.0 Turkey 0.5 Jordan 12.4 Algeria 0.1 South Asia Nepal 23.6 Pakistan 5.4 Bangladesh 17.9 India 1.6 East Asia and Pacific Lao Rep. 22.7 Malaysia 0.2 Viet Nam 15.9 Singapore 0.1 Latin America and Caribbean Bolivia 20.3 Argentina 0.2 Nicaragua 20.0 Venezuela 0.1
Sources: Health: World Bank World development report 1993 Richest 20% World Bank
Aid dependence
Aid is vital to the functioning of government in some nations of the developing world - and relatively insignificant for others.
Aid as % of Aid as % of
all central all central
government government
revenues revenues
----------------------------------------------------------
Brazil 0* Philippines 14
Dominican Rep. 0* Namibia 15
Korea, Rep. 0* Yemen 15
Singapore 0* Guatemala 16
Venezuela 0* Egypt 17
Argentina 1 Jordan 18
Iran 1 Zimbabwe 20
Malaysia 1 Sri Lanka 21
Mexico 1 Papua New Guinea 24
Trinidad & Tobago 1 Cote d'Ivoire 26
Chile 2 Cameroon 27
Colombia 2 Lesotho 27
Oman 2 Zaire 30
Turkey 2 Kenya 34
Myanmar 3 El Salvador 35
Thailand 3 Ethiopia 37
Uruguay 3 Bolivia 38
India 4 Liberia 39
Panama 4 Ghana 40
Syria 4 Guinea 50
Botswana 5 Malawi 54
Costa Rica 5 Nepal 54
Mauritius 5 Nicaragua 55
Tunisia 5 Madagascar 57
Gabon 6 Bhutan 59
Indonesia 7 Rwanda 66
Morocco 7 Chad 67
Ecuador 9 Sierra Leone 69
Pakistan 11 Zambia 70
Paraguay 13
Peru 13
*less than 0.5%
Sources: Central government revenue: World Bank, World development report 1994, and International Monetary Fund, Government finance statistics yearbook, 1993, 1994. Aid: OECD, Development cooperation 1994, 1995.
Aid and the top 20%
The table shows aid received compared with the incomes of the
richest 20% of the people in the main aid-receiving countries.
Aid received As % of
($ millions) income of
1993 richest 20%
-----------------------------------------------------
China 3280 1
India 1533 1
Indonesia 2024 3
Pakistan 1067 5
Philippines 1485 6
Egypt 2256 13
Bangladesh 1359 14
Kenya 929 22
Ethiopia 1209 44
Tanzania 978 62
Mozambique 1155 -