Development Co-operation Profiles

Cyprus

Introduction

In Cyprus, development co-operation is closely aligned with the European Union’s (EU) goals and priorities, with a central focus on poverty eradication and sustainable development. Over the past six years, Cyprus has provided most of its official development assistance (ODA) through multilateral channels, but bilateral projects are also being implemented. Policy and priority setting and project implementation are the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For its key partners, Cyprus’ co-operation focuses on sharing know-how and expertise and providing in-kind, demand-driven humanitarian assistance (e.g. medical supplies). Cyprus’s total ODA (USD 18 million, preliminary data) increased in 2023, representing 0.07% of gross national income (GNI).1

Find the methodological notes behind the profile here.

Policy

After accession to the European Union in 2004, Cyprus redefined its development co-operation policy to align with EU policy and sectoral priorities. The 2013 Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 75.141 established a new institutional framework for development co-operation. Cyprus’ development co-operation policy is currently under review. Cyprus’ vision for development co-operation is focused on sharing its know-how in economic transition, as well as for its technical co-operation in key areas where Cyprus has established expertise, including tourism management and forestry. Cyprus’ development co-operation policy has remained steady in terms of financial resources and human resources in the provision of development assistance and technical co-operation to third countries.

ODA allocation overview

Cyprus provided USD 18 million (preliminary data) of ODA in 2023 (USD 17.2 million in constant terms), representing 0.07% of GNI. This was an increase of 25.6% in real terms in volume and an increase in the share of GNI from 2022. Cyprus is not in line with its EU commitment (0.33% by 2030) and international commitment to achieve a 0.7% ODA/GNI ratio. Within Cyprus’s ODA portfolio in 2022, 100% was provided in the form of grants.2

 

Note: Data on ODA volumes (figure above) are in constant 2022 prices. Data for 2023 are preliminary. See the methodological notes for further details.

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Performance against commitments and DAC recommendations

Description	Target	2021	2022	2023, preliminary
ODA as a share of GNI (%)	0.33	0.07	0.05	0.07
Total ODA to least developed countries as a share of GNI (%)	0.15-0.20	0.01	0.01
Grant element of total ODA (%)	>86	100	100	100

Note: This table only includes information about ODA data-related DAC recommendations. ODA: official development assistance; GNI: gross national income; DAC: Development Assistance Committee.

Cyprus provided a higher share of its ODA through multilateral channels than bilaterally in 2022. Gross bilateral ODA was 35.7% of total ODA disbursements. Seventy one per cent of gross bilateral ODA was channelled through multilateral organisations (earmarked contributions). Cyprus allocated 64.3% of total ODA as core contributions to multilateral organisations.

 

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ODA for Ukraine

In 2022, Cyprus provided USD 3.4 million of net bilateral ODA to Ukraine to respond to the impacts of Russia’s war of aggression, all of which in the form of humanitarian assistance. In 2021, Cyprus did not allocate any of its ODA to Ukraine, and according to preliminary data, it did not do so in 2023 either.

 

Note: The amount reported in 2023 is an estimate, based on preliminary figures reported to the OECD and published in April 2024.

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ODA to and through the multilateral system

In 2022, Cyprus provided USD 12.3 million of gross ODA to the multilateral system, a decrease of 28.7% in real terms from 2021. Of this, USD 8.8 million was core multilateral ODA, while USD 3.5 million were non-core contributions earmarked for a specific country, region, theme or purpose. All of Cyprus’ non-core contributions were programmatic funding (to pooled funds and specific-purpose programmes and funds).

 

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A majority of 84.6% of Cyprus’s total contributions to multilateral organisations in 2022 were allocated to EU institutions (50.8%), United Nations (19.8%) entities and World Bank (14%).

 

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The UN system received 19.8% of Cyprus’s multilateral contributions, of which USD 468 thousand (19.3%) represented earmarked contributions. Out of a total volume of USD 2.4 million to the UN system, the top three UN recipients of Cyprus’s support (core and earmarked contributions) were UNDPO (USD 324 thousand), UNOCHA (USD 205 thousand) and UNEP (USD 179 thousand) and the WHO (USD 176 thousand).

 

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See the section on Geographic, sectoral and thematic focus of ODA for the breakdown of bilateral allocations, including ODA earmarked through the multilateral development system. Learn more about multilateral development finance.

Bilateral ODA

In 2022, Cyprus’s bilateral spending declined compared to the previous year. It provided USD 4.9 million of gross bilateral ODA (which includes earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations). This represented a decrease of 18.2% in real terms from 2021.

In 2022, country programmable aid was 22.3% of Cyprus’s gross bilateral ODA, compared to a non-DAC country average of 47%.

 

Note: NGO: non-governmental organisation.

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In 2022, Cyprus channelled their bilateral ODA mainly through multilateral organisations (71.2%) and the public sector (20.7%).

 

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Geographic, sectoral and thematic focus of ODA

In 2022, Cyprus’s bilateral ODA was primarily focused on ODA-eligible countries in Europe. USD 3.4 million was allocated to ODA-eligible countries in Europe (of which 99.1% for Ukraine) and USD 1.1 million to Middle East, accounting respectively for 69.3% and 22.9% of gross bilateral ODA. Europe was also the main regional recipient of Cyprus’s earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations.

Bilateral ODA by recipient country

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In 2022, 91.9% of gross bilateral ODA went to Cyprus’s top 10 recipients, mostly in Europe and the Middle East. The share of gross bilateral ODA not allocated by country was 8.1%.

 

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In 2022, Cyprus allocated 0.01% of its GNI to the least developed countries (LDCs). Cyprus allocated the highest share of gross bilateral ODA (69.8%) to lower-middle income countries (LMICs) in 2022 and 19.8% to upper-middle income countries (UMICs), noting that 8.1% was unallocated by income group.

 

Note: LDC: least developed country; LIC: low-income country; LMIC: lower middle-income country; UMIC: upper middle-income country; MADCTs: more advanced developing countries and territories.

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Sectors

In 2022, Cyprus allocated 21.2% of its bilateral ODA to social infrastructure and services. Investments in this area amounted to USD 1 million with a strong focus on education (USD 0.7 million; 14.2%). Humanitarian assistance totalled USD 3.5 million, representing 71.9 % of Cyprus’ bilateral ODA.

 

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Total official support for sustainable development

Total official support for sustainable development is an international statistical standard that monitors all official and officially supported resources for financing the SDGs in developing countries, as well as for addressing global challenges. It provides a broader measure of development finance with the objective of increasing transparency and accountability of all external support that developing countries receive.

In 2022, activities reported by Cyprus as TOSSD totalled USD 23.6 million in 2022, down from USD 35.5 million in 2021, and Cyprus’s TOSSD activities in support of sustainable development mostly targeted SDG 16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels, and SDG 17 Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development. Activity-level data on TOSSD by recipient are available at: https://tossd.online.

Institutional set-up

Cyprus’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for both setting and implementing Cyprus’ ODA policy.

 

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Civil society organisations active in development co-operation and humanitarian assistance co-ordinate under the umbrella body Cyprus Island Wide NGO Development Platform (CYINDEP).

Additional resources

Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs: https://mfa.gov.cy/goals-and-objectives.

Cyprus reported to the OECD for the period 2005-15 and has been reporting activity-level data since 2019.

Cyprus is an Adherent to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including the grant-equivalent methodology, core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, country programmable aid, channels of delivery, bilateral ODA unspecified/unallocated, bilateral allocable aid, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.

Notes

← 1.  DAC members adopted the grant-equivalent methodology starting from their reporting of 2018 data as a more accurate way to count the donor effort in development loans. See the methodological notes for further details.

← 2.  Non-grants include sovereign loans, multilateral loans, equity investment and loans to the private sector.