Korea's official development aid rises 24.8% in 2024

Haitian children pose in front of a school bus in this undated photo. Courtesy of the Korea International Cooperation Agency

Korea's official development assistance (ODA) to underdeveloped countries rose 24.8 percent last year to reach $3.94 billion, the government said Thursday.

Citing preliminary data from the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the government said Korea increased its aid by $780 million from 2023.

As a proportion of the gross national income, the country's aid reached 0.21 percent, the highest rate since Korea joined the DAC in 2010, according to the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

The difference was largely attributable to a 37 percent increase in bilateral aid to $3.18 billion, which consisted of $2.22 billion in grants and $960 million in concessional loans.

Multilateral aid came to $760 million.

Of the 32 DAC member states, Korea ranked 13th in terms of total ODA, up one notch from 2023.

The government said it has earmarked 6.5 trillion won for ODA this year, up 3.8 percent from 2024, to demonstrate its commitment to becoming a top 10 donor nation.