Donor Government Funding for Family Planning in 2016

Donor government funding for family planning decreased in 2016 compared to the prior year, with bilateral support falling from $1.34 billion in 2015 to $1.19 billion (-12%).

• This marked the second year of declines in a row, following an initial increase after the London Summit on Family Planning held in 2012. These declines were largely due to currency fluctuations and the timing of donor disbursements, although even after accounting for these factors, funding in 2016 declined, returning to 2013 levels; funding from several donors decreased in real terms.
• Among the 10 donor governments profiled, four governments decreased bilateral funding (France, Norway, the U.K., and the U.S.), five increased (Australia, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden), and one remained flat (Canada).
• The decline by the U.S. in 2016 (from US$638.0 million in 2015 to US$532.7 million in 2016) appears to reflect the timing of disbursements, as overall funding commitments by the U.S. have remained flat for several years.
• Despite the decline, the U.S. was still the largest bilateral donor to family planning in 2016, providing 45% of total bilateral funding. The U.K. (US$203.4 million, 17%) was the second largest donor, followed by the Netherlands (US$183.1 million, 15%), Sweden (US$92.5 million, 8%), and Canada (US$43.8 million, 4%).
• In addition to bilateral disbursements for family planning, donor governments also provided US$347.8 million in core contributions to UNFPA; this also represented a decline over the prior year period of US$44.8 million (-13%) compared to 2015 (US$392.6 million).¹ Sweden provided the largest core contribution to UNFPA in 2016 (US$59.0 million), followed by Norway (US$46.8 million), the Netherlands (US$39.1 million), and the U.S. (US$30.7).