Data coverage and sources

Abstract

The OECD DAC Secretariat collects individual aid activities on Official development assistance (ODA) and Other Official Flows (OOF) in the Creditor Reporting System (CRS). ODA is defined as flows to countries on the DAC List of ODA Recipients and core contributions to multilateral development institutions provided by official or executive agencies in the list of ODA-eligible international organisations (OECD, 2021[1]). ODA must have the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its main objective, and be concessional in character - either flowing as grants or concessional loans (i.e. softer than market terms). In turn, OOF comprises transactions from governments to developing countries that do not qualify as ODA, i.e. loans extended at market rates (OECD, 2021[1]). This definition of other official flows excludes official direct export credits. Together, the sum of bilateral ODA flows, bilateral OOF (except OOF grants and loans for commercial purposes), and all outflows (grants and loans) by multilateral development institutions, define official development finance (ODF). As such, ODF is a broader measure of developing countries’ official receipts for development purposes (OECD, 2021[1]).