Government funding for humanitarian aid could contract between 34% and 45% by the end of the year compared to 2023, according to research by the Activity Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (ALNAP).
In early 2025, United States President Donald Trump cut 80% of contracts administered by the US Agency for International Development, in line with his America-first approach, which is hostile to overseas spending.
On their end, faced with the rising military threat of Russia, European nations have been diverting aid to defence and rearmament budgets.
Despite 2025 marking a turning point, ALNAP reports that record cuts to aid began in 2024, reversing a decade-long upward funding trend. This aid drop has exacerbated the gap between needs and funding, as since 2021, 70 million people are in need of aid.
According to ALNAP, budget slashes are tied to the diminishing impact of the “Ukraine effect”, which led to a significant boost in humanitarian funding following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Where is humanitarian aid going?
Palestinian territories were the largest recipient of international humanitarian assistance in 2024, receiving $2.9 billion in aid (€2.5 billion), an increase of 51% compared to 2023.
Ukraine was the second largest recipient, receiving $2.8 billion (€2.4 billion) in 2024. Nevertheless, it saw a 25% funding decrease for the second year in a row.
Assessing the scale of the cuts, the US topped the rankings for the country which axed the most humanitarian aid in 2024, as funding dropped by 10.4% from 2023 levels. Meanwhile, funding from EU institutions for humanitarian aid dropped by 12.7%.
Although some European governments increased aid in 2024, the majority slashed it.
Germany and Norway cut their humanitarian aid by more than 20% compared to 2023, while aid stemming from France dropped by 15%.
The UK and Sweden were outliers, respectively upping humanitarian aid by 39.9% and 3.4%.
Mass cuts to the humanitarian sector were driven by 16 of the 20 largest donors reducing available funding, while a smaller but notable fall in private contributions also impacted aid.
Despite this, the shape of the funding landscape has not shifted as a whole — the top 10 donors still provided 84% of all public humanitarian assistance in 2024, compared to 83% in 2023.
Overall, the sector’s reliance on a relatively small number of large donors renders it vulnerable to shocks.
