UK 2020 aid stats released this morning, a few immediate observations:

1. UK met the 0.7% target in 2020

It spent £14.5bn, down £712m (-4.7%) in line with fall in national income (GNI)

2. FCDO saw a reduction of 9.5%, while non-FCDO increased by 12.1%.

This included a 33% increase for the Home Office to ~£600m due to extra costs of refugee hosting in COVID; and an EU increase COVID-related.

3. “DFID” spend fell to under 70% of the aid budget for the first time

BEIS spent over £1bn in 2020 for the first time - climate finance and R&D.

FCDO share also down from 77.6% to 73.7%

4. Bi-lateral spend in both Africa and Asia fell substantially

Bi-lateral spend to Africa fell by 16% (-£425m)

For Asia it was -30% (-£611m)

5. Overall, aid budget forced to meet COVID pressures, alongside a reduced budget along with fixed climate and other commitments, meaning that bilateral support bore the brunt.

Still, this reduction was <5%. In 2021, it will be much much harder >25%.

Full - and very informative as ever - stats release here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/976923/Statistics-on-International-Development-Provisional-UK-Aid-Spend-2020a.pdf