Donor Government Funding for Family Planning in 2017
- Donor government funding for family planning increased in 2017, rising from $1.20 billion in 2016 to $1.27 billion (an increase of $74 million or 6%, as measured in current terms); funding increased even after accounting for inflation and currency fluctuations.1
- This marked the first increase after two years of declines. However, funding is still below the peak level reached in 2014 ($1.43 billion).
- The increase in 2017 occurred despite a decline by the U.S., the world’s largest FP donor, from US$532.7 million in 2016 to US$488.7 million in 2017. The U.S. decrease, however, was largely due to a delay in disbursements and does not reflect a decline in U.S. appropriations, which have been flat for several years.
- Despite the decline, the U.S. was still the largest bilateral donor to family planning in 2017, providing 38% of total bilateral funding. The U.K. (US$282.4 million, 22%) was the second largest donor, followed by the Netherlands (US$197.0 million, 15%), Sweden (US$109.2 million, 9%), and Canada (US$69.0 million, 5%).
- Among the 10 donor governments profiled, five increased bilateral funding (Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the U.K.), two remained flat (Australia and Germany), and three decreased (France, Norway, and the U.S.).
- In addition to bilateral disbursements for family planning, donor governments also provided US$344.4 million in core contributions to UNFPA, similar to 2016 (US$347.8 million) despite the elimination of funding from the U.S., the fourth largest donor in 2016.2 Sweden provided the largest core contribution to UNFPA in 2017 (US$63.8 million), followed by Norway (US$50.8 million), Denmark (US$43.2 million), and the Netherlands (US$37.4 million).