Development finance statistics: Resources for reporting

The Converged Statistical Reporting Directives are the rule book for how to report statistics on aid and other resource flows to developing countries.  

• Addendum 1 contains supporting information on the classification of flows such as the list of ODA recipients, the list of ODA-eligible international organisations and various code lists which all require regular updates.
• Addendum 2 contains detailed definitions (grant element, policy markers) and the comprehensive text of DAC Recommendations, which do not require frequent updates.
• Addendum 3 presents the reporting methods for private sector instruments and the technical details for the reporting forms.

There are two reporting exercises: (i) in the first quarter of the reporting year, reporting in the advance questionnaire of preliminary ODA data at aggregate level, to ensure a timely, albeit limited, publication of key ODA figures, and (ii) in the second half of the year, more detailed reporting at item level on all flows of resources to developing countries, using a converged reporting system whereby bilateral and multilateral providers of development co-operation use a single file format (Creditor Reporting System – CRS). Item-level reporting is validated against key aggregates also reported by donors and then serves as the basis for producing various other aggregate statistics.

• Advance questionnaire
• Converged questionnaire
• Templates for CRS reporting: 
  • Questionnaire for DAC providers
  • Questionnaire for non-DAC providers 
  • Questionnaire for multilateral organisations 
  • Template for reporting the details of debt relief operations 

Several taxonomies are used by reporters to track key information on development finance, including the purpose of aid (i.e. the economic or social sector it supports), the financial instrument (e.g. grants, loans), and the policy objective (e.g. gender equality, climate change adaptation or mitigation). A comprehensive set of guidance documents supports reporters in using these classifications effectively and ensuring data consistency. Please explore the documents below or contact us at DAC.Contact@oecd.org for more information.

• Resources for compiling DAC/CRS reporting:  
  • DAC and CRS code lists : .xlsx, .xls, and database 
  • CRS reporting checklist – 2024 version 
  • Rules for compiling aggregates
• Guidance and FAQs for reporting on key fields: 
  • Co-operation modalities 
  • Sector codes 
  • Triangular co-operation 
  • Trust funds managed by multilateral institutions 
  • Sustainable Development Goals 
  • Policy markers: 
    • Gender 
    • Rio and environment markers 
    • Disability 
    • Nutrition 
• Other resources for reporters and users: 
  • DAC glossary of key terms and concepts 
  • Grant element:  
    • Definition 
    • Calculator  
    • Interactive chart

Data are presented under three sub-themes: 

• “Flows by provider” provide comprehensive aggregate data on the volume, origin and types of aid and other resource flows; 
• “Flows by provider and recipient” provide comprehensive aggregate historical and forward-looking data on the volume, origin and destination of resource flows (including country programmable aid); 
• “Flows based on individual projects (CRS)” provide detailed information on individual aid activities, such as sectors, countries, project descriptions etc. used to derive aggregate data. 

Tables 

• Exchange rates 
• Deflators (base year=2022)

Methodology 

The DAC deflators adjust for both price and exchange rate changes, so that all flows, from all donors, in all years, are expressed in terms of a readily understood fixed unit of measurement - the purchasing power of a US dollar in a recent year, referred to as the base year. Starting from data expressed in nominal terms, i.e. in United States dollars at the exchange rate prevailing at the time of the flow, conversion to reflect the purchasing power of dollars in a given base year requires two adjustments: 

1. Replacing the exchange rate that prevailed at the time of the flow by the exchange rate in the (recent) base year. 
2. Allowing for inflation  in the donor country between the year of the flow and the base year. 

DAC publications include a deflator for “total DAC” flows.  This is the average of the deflators of individual DAC donors, weighted by each donor’s total ODA.  This should only be used to give a rough idea of total aid flows when the currency of some of the flows is not known (e.g. when part of the flows come from the multilateral agencies who may disburse in various currencies).  However,  deflators for  individual donors should be applied, i.e. data for total DAC flows are obtained by adding up the deflated amounts for each DAC donor. 

Different methodologies are possible for imputing aid by multilateral bodies back to the funders of those bodies.  In particular, the approach will vary depending on whether the intention is to show the share of the receipts of a given recipient attributable to a particular donor, or the share of a given donor’s outflows that can be assigned to an individual recipient. As DAC statistics are primarily designed to measure donor effort, the second approach is the one taken in DAC statistical presentations. 

It is important to note that multilateral flows in a given year are not exactly imputable to donors’ contributions in that year, no matter what methodology is used.  Among the reasons for this are: 

• Delays. Donors’ contributions to international financial institutions (IFIs) are reportable in full on lodgment of promissory notes.  It may be up to three years or more before these funds are drawn down by the institution.  Even for institutions with annual subscriptions, there may be substantial delay between receipt of funds and spending them. 
• Turning grants into loans. The IFIs mainly lend rather than grant funds. Their lending in any one year is much greater than donors’ contributions, since it also draws on reflows of principal, interest receipts, and transfers of funds within the IFIs (net income from non-concessional lending is transferred to concessional lending). 
• Restrictions on pooling. In theory, core resources of multilateral agencies are pooled, so that all contributions can be considered to have contributed proportionally to all activities. But in practice, earmarks and restrictions cloud this simple correspondence between receipts and expenditure. 
• Limits of data on multilateral outflows. It is impracticable to maintain data on the outflows of all multilateral agencies, funds and programmes. The imputation methodology can only be applied to the finances of agencies for which both inflow and outflow data are available.

The OECD’s calculation  

1. The percentage of each multilateral agency’s total annual gross disbursements that each recipient country receives is calculated. This calculation is carried out only in respect of agencies’ disbursements of grants or concessional (ODA) loans from core resources (in some cases, pending data availability, data on non-concessional outflows are used). If data on disbursements are missing, commitments are used as a proxy.  
2. The recipient percentages derived in step 1) are multiplied by a donor's contribution in the same year to the core resources of the agency concerned to arrive at the imputed flow from that donor to each recipient.  (Example:  In a given year, WFP provides 10% of its disbursements from core resources to Sudan.  Donor A contributes USD 50 million to WFP core resources in the same year.  Donor A’s imputed multilateral ODA to Sudan through WFP is 0.1*50million = USD 5 million).  This calculation is repeated for each multilateral agency. 
3. The results from step 2) for all agencies are summed to obtain the total imputed multilateral aid from each donor to each recipient country.   

In practice, imputed multilateral percentages are calculated for about 20 agencies per year.  These account for about 90% of donors’ multilateral ODA.  Core contributions to the remaining agencies, for which the OECD does not have outflow data, are NOT imputed back to donors, so that imputed multilateral ODA remains slightly lower than donors’ total contributions to multilaterals.  Total imputed multilateral flows are not published on their own; they are shown in combination with bilateral ODA, in order to provide the most complete picture possible of the total ODA effort the donor makes in respect of individual recipient countries. 

While there is no regular OECD's methodology for calculating sectoral imputed multilateral aid by sector or other aid parameters, this is done occasionally in the context of sectoral studies (e.g. on aid to the water sector, to basic social services, or in support of HIV/AIDS control), until the OECD develops such methodology.