Sweden’s aid surge rests on future promises, sharp drop looms

Sweden’s overseas development aid (ODA) apparently surged last year due to an accounting quirk under which Stockholm crammed more than USD 1 billion in multi-year pledges to the World Bank and Green Climate Fund into the ledger for 2025. The reported 9.6 per cent rise in aid in the OECD’s preliminary tally for 2025 masks a three-year budget freeze and will herald a likely nosedive in aid reported to the OECD this year from 2025’s total.