Chapter 1 examines revenue flows to the UN system, with a particular focus on the UNDS. In doing so, it presents 2024 resource volumes, analyses historical trends, and reviews the available financing instruments and funding sources. Having provided an overview of major government contributors, the chapter considers international financial institutions (IFIs), other non-state funding and UN inter-agency pooled funds.⁵ It concludes with an assessment of funding to the UNDS by OECD-DAC countries within the broader multilateral development system.

The most recent year for which a full set of consolidated UN financial data is available is 2024. The figures and tables presented in Part One are based primarily on data from the CEB and the Secretary-General’s 2026 annual report on implementation of the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR).⁶ Preliminary 2025 data on revenues and expenses for select UN entities are also included.

Chapter 2 focuses on the disbursement of resources: specifically, how funds are allocated across UN functions, UN entities and geographies, as well as their alignment with SDG implementation. In 2024, the UN system’s total expenses amounted to US$ 66.0 billion, a decline of US$ 2.5 billion – or 4%—compared to 2023.

Although UN revenue and expenses are closely linked, they do not necessarily align within a given fiscal year.⁵¹ Several factors affect the timing of financial inflows and outflows. First, in accordance with IPSAS, revenue from multi-year contribution agreements are recognised in full the year they are signed, despite the associated expenses being distributed over the life of the agreement (see Box 3 in Chapter 3). Additionally, structural funding constraints, including the accumulation of unpaid assessed contributions and the tendency for voluntary contributions to be concentrated in the final quarter of the year, contribute to a pattern in which actual spending often occurs in a fiscal year subsequent to the revenue recognition year.

The third chapter, prepared by the Secretariat of the United Nations Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), presents the strategic vision and progress of the  UN Data Cube Strategy 2022–2026, an initiative designed to provide UN stakeholders with a transparent, comprehensive snapshot of UN system-wide revenue and expenses, enabling better analytics and evidence-based decisions. The chapter highlights how stronger financial data standards and improved inter-agency coordination are reinforcing the UN system’s capacity to respond to increasingly complex global challenges. The chapter also explores perspectives on the future of UN system-wide financial data and identifies strategic considerations for updating the UN Data Cube Strategy. Against a particularly challenging financing backdrop, the chapter underscores the importance of a strategic, system-wide approach to data through the Data Cube Strategy, equipping the UN with the financial insights needed to advance the SDGs.