For this year’s Kompass 2025 report , Welthungerhilfe and Terre des Hommes partnered with CPC Analytics to conduct the underlying data analysis assessing Germany’s development cooperation and humanitarian assistance. Our work brought together OECD-DAC datasets, BMZ budget lines, humanitarian financing flows, and indicators on the state of hunger and fragility. 

A System Under Pressure 

Our analysis shows a historic contraction of development finance. After several years of expansion during COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, Germany’s ODA fell by 17 percent in 2024.¹ Germany’s ODA dropped to 0.67 percent of GNI in 2024, below the internationally agreed 0.7 percent target for the first time since 2019.² Global ODA is projected to fall by one third between 2023 and 2025 due to international cuts, including reduced U.S. development spending and the abrupt suspension of USAID programs.^{3 4} This represents a structural shock with direct consequences for global food security and for people living in conflict-affected settings. 

Impacts on Food Security and the World’s Most Vulnerable 

BMZ funding declined by 8 percent in the 2024 federal budget, contributing to a substantial reduction in Germany’s overall development spending compared with 2023.⁵ At the same time, cuts to nutrition programs risk leaving 2.3 million children without treatment for severe acute malnutrition, potentially resulting in 369,000 additional child deaths each year.⁶ These reductions are especially concerning for Least Developed Countries, many of which depend on ODA for core public services and where ODA represents 10 to 20 percent of national income.⁷ Yet Germany has not met its commitment to direct 0.2 percent of GNI to these countries.⁸

Humanitarian Consequences: Shrinking Support as Crises Intensify 

Humanitarian needs continue to rise, yet many crisis-affected countries remain heavily dependent on a small number of donors. In 2023, 69 percent of humanitarian ODA to the DR Congo and nearly half of Sudan’s humanitarian assistance came from the United States.⁹ As funding declines, countries such as Somalia are already experiencing worsening hunger, nutrition, health, and water and sanitation conditions.¹⁰

Where ODA Actually Flows and Where It Does Not 

A significant portion of Germany’s ODA does not reach partner countries. In 2023, 38 percent of bilateral ODA was spent within Germany, largely on in-country refugee and associated education costs.¹¹ Among the funds that did leave the country, only a modest share supported regions facing the most acute development and humanitarian needs, including sub-Saharan Africa.¹²

Why This Matters for Policy 

The recent decline in development and humanitarian financing coincides with a period of intensifying global challenges, including political instability, climate shocks, and rising food insecurity. For many countries, especially those classified as fragile or facing protracted crises, ODA remains a critical source of support for core public services and institutional resilience. Reduced financing therefore risks slowing progress in areas such as nutrition, health, social protection, and crisis response capacity. These shifts raise important considerations for the future of international cooperation, including how partner countries plan and resource essential services, manage external shocks, and sustain development gains over time. They also highlight broader debates about the predictability of aid, the balance between domestic and external financing, and the ability of national systems to adapt within a more volatile funding landscape. 

References

1. Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V. and Terre des Hommes Deutschland e.V., Kompass 2025: Zur Wirklichkeit der deutschen Entwicklungspolitik (Bonn: Welthungerhilfe, June 6, 2025), https://www.welthungerhilfe.de/fileadmin/pictures/graphics/infographics_sharegraphics_maps/Kompass/Kompass2025/WHH_Kompass_250612_BF.pdf.
2. Welthungerhilfe and Terre des Hommes, Kompass 2025.
3. Kristin Laub, Nadia Setiabudi, Sinéad Dwyer, Emily Barter, Zoe Welch, and Elton Smole, “The Budget Cuts Tracker,” Donor Tracker, July 4, 2025, https://donortracker.org/publications/budget-cuts-tracker.
4. Zoe Welch, Nadia Setiabudi, Daisy Huntington, and Emily Barter, “US funding cuts: Projecting ODA amid uncertainty,” Donor Tracker, May 14, 2025, https://donortracker.org/publications/us-funding-cuts-projecting-oda-amid-uncertainty-2025.
5. Theresa Kresse, “Germany’s 2024 budget: Massive ODA cuts after a fiscal odyssey,” Donor Tracker, March 21, 2024, https://donortracker.org/publications/germany-s-2024-budget-massive-oda-cuts-after-a-fiscal-odyssey-2024.
6. Saskia Osendarp, Marie Ruel, Emorn Udomkesmalee, Masresha Tessema, and Lawrence Haddad, “The full lethal impact of massive cuts to international food aid,” Nature, March 26, 2025, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00898-3.
7. Welthungerhilfe and Terre des Hommes, Kompass 2025.
8. Welthungerhilfe and Terre des Hommes, Kompass 2025.
9. Welthungerhilfe and Terre des Hommes, Kompass 2025.
10. IPC Technical Working Group (Somalia), IPC Acute Food Insecurity and Acute Malnutrition Analysis: April–June 2025 (report), published March 29, 2025, https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Somalia_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Malnutrition_Jan_Jun2025_Report.pdf.
11. Welthungerhilfe and Terre des Hommes, Kompass 2025.
12. Welthungerhilfe and Terre des Hommes, Kompass 2025.