Having outlined the four core functions used to categorise UN system expenses, the report now hones in on expenses by UN entity and function. Table 5 provides an overview of total expenses for each UN entity in 2024, as well as how expenses are distributed across the four functions. In addition, sparklines illustrate the evolution of each entity’s total expenses since 2015 (or, where applicable, the year the entity began reporting to the CEB). As expected, there is a clear alignment between an entity’s institutional mandate and the function, or functions, its expenses are concentrated in.
For most UN entities, their expense profile reflects a predominant function closely aligned with their core mandate. For instance, UN-DPO allocates its entire budget to peace operations; WFP and UNHCR both focus (almost) exclusively on humanitarian assistance; the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) directs all its resources to the global agenda function; and PAHO and UNDP allocate all – or in the latter case, almost all – their respective budgets to development assistance.
UN system total expenses by entity and function, 2024 and 2015–2024 (US$ million)
i) Values are rounded and slight differences in totals may occur. ii) UNV and UNICRI expenses are included under UNDP and UNODC, respectively.
2024 UN expense data
As presented in Figure 32 and summarised in Table 5, humanitarian assistance totalled US$ 27.2 billion in 2024. Three entities account for two-thirds of these expenses: WFP (32%), UNICEF (17%) and UNHCR (18%). Meanwhile, nearly half the development assistance expenses for 2024 – which amount to US$ 21.3 billion – are attributable to UNDP (22%), UNICEF (18%) and FAO (8%). Peace operations were highly concentrated in two entities: UN-DPO (84%) and the UN Secretariat (14%). Finally, expenses under global agenda and specialised assistance totalled US$ 8.8 billion, with the UN Secretariat (28%) and WHO (21%) accounting for approximately half of this amount.
The three UN entities that saw the largest contraction in expenses in 2024 compared to the previous year were WFP (a US$ 1.6 billion reduction), UNICEF (US$ 0.5 billion reduction) and UNHCR (US$ 0.4 billion reduction).
Persistent funding gaps compelled WFP to make difficult operational choices, including reducing food rations and scaling back programmes in several major humanitarian contexts, with Afghanistan, South Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Ukraine foremost among these. These constraints significantly reduced the number of people that could be assisted, necessitating stricter targeting and prioritisation of interventions.59
UNICEF’s 5.8% fall in total expenses was primarily due to a US$ 361 million reduction in the transfer of programme supplies, notably in Ukraine and Afghanistan. Cash assistance to implementing partners declined by US$ 453 million, although this was partially offset by a US$ 189 million increase in direct cash-based transfers to beneficiaries, notably in Yemen.60
UNHCR had to respond to multiple emergencies in 2024. As detailed in the entity’s 2024 Global Report, the global population of forcibly displaced and stateless people rose by 6% in 2024 to 129.9 million. Moreover, UNHCR ‘saw a significant year-on-year increase in the number of returns of both refugees (1.6 million returns, or a 54% increase compared to 2023) and of IDPs (8.2 million returns, or a 61% increase), driven by changes in circumstances in countries and areas of origin, or by adverse changes in countries of asylum – as was the case for displaced Syrian or Afghan people’.61
Preliminary 2025 UN expense data
As noted before, UN revenue and expenses are closely linked, even though they do not necessarily align within a given fiscal year. This section therefore is directly related to the section in Chapter 1 with preliminary 2025 revenue data and to figure 6.
Figure 33 illustrates the evolution of the annual nominal expenses of selected UN entities between 2015 and 2025, with 2025 data remaining subject to verification at the time of writing. The figure is divided into two panels to facilitate comparisons of the scale and trajectories between development and humanitarian activities.
Panel A presents the annual development assistance expenses of FAO, the UN Secretariat, UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA.62 Among these entities, UNDP recorded the highest development expenses, which remained relatively stable at around US$ 5 billion annually throughout the period. UNICEF’s development assistance expenses grew steadily over the decade, and accelerated markedly after 2020, increasing from US$ 2.8 billion in 2015 to US$ 4.1 billion in 2025—nearly 50% above their 2015 level.
A different trajectory is observed for the UN Secretariat and UNFPA. The UN Secretariat’s development assistance expenses more than doubled, rising from US$ 0.6 billion in 2015 to US$ 1.4 billion in 2019. Thereafter, expenses stabilised before declining modestly in 2023 and 2024. In 2025, expense levels are expected to return to approximately US$ 1.4 billion. By contrast, UNFPA’s development assistance expenses remained largely unchanged throughout the period, exhibiting only marginal growth. The growth in UNFPA’s total expenses over the period was due to its expenses on humanitarian assistance, which grew from 5% of total expenses in 2015 to a projected 45% in 2025.
FAO recorded the sharpest annual decline in development assistance expenses in 2025 (US$ 0.6 billion). However, its overall level of expenses remained broadly unchanged, reflecting a redistribution of expenses across functional categories. In 2025, development assistance accounted for half of FAO’s total expenses, while humanitarian assistance and global agenda and specialised assistance represented 31% and 19%, respectively. In 2024, the corresponding shares were 77%, 9% and 14%, respectively. In its 2025 Humanitarian Appeals, FAO delivers a stark warning regarding the conse-quences of constrained operational expenses, noting that “unmet needs heighten the risk of hunger and malnutrition, and people’s exposure to highly preventable diseases. Unless the necessary resources are made available, lost lives and the reversal of hard-earned development gains will be the price to pay.” 63
Panel B of Figure 33 presents humanitarian assistance expen ses for five UN entities with major humanitarian operations: WFP, UNHCR, UNICEF, the UN Secretariat and UNRWA. Humanitarian spending increased markedly for most entities between 2015 and 2022, driven by growing needs and increasingly complex crises, before declining amid tightening humanitarian financing despite persistently high levels of need. UNRWA stands apart, exhibiting a relatively flat trend and recording lower expenditure in 2025 than in 2015, reflecting funding suspensions and pauses despite unprecedented needs among Palestine refugees and internally displaced persons in the State of Palestine.
WFP’s humanitarian assistance expenses peaked at US$ 11.9 billion in 2022 before declining to US$ 8.2 billion in 2025, a reduction of 31% from the peak level. This largely reflects severe funding constraints and the prioritisation of limited resources rather than a reduction in humanitarian needs, which remain at historically elevated levels. “In 2025, global food insecurity remained alarmingly high as conflict, climate extremes and economic uncertainty deepened needs. An estimated 318 million people faced acute food insecurity across 68 countries, with 41.1 million people experiencing “emergency” or worse conditions. For the first time this century, two famines were confirmed simultaneously – in Gaza and parts of Sudan.” 64
UNHCR followed a similar trend to WFP, with its humanitarian assistance expenses peaking at around US$ 5.4 billion in 2022 before declining to US$ 4.0 billion in 2025. This represents a 26% reduction from the 2022 peak, and an 11% decrease compared to 2024. In its Global Appeal for 2026, UNHCR noted that funding reductions had forced the organisation to narrow its operational footprint, cut or delay programmes and sharply reprioritise its activities, with significant human consequences for forcibly displaced and stateless people. According to UNHCR, “up to 11.6 million refugees and other displaced people have lost, or are at risk of losing, direct protection and support as a result. [...] Livelihoods and resilience programmes [have been] scaled down or back; protection services or monitoring limited; and investments in solutions delayed.” 65
Overall, preliminary 2025 data indicate that the revenue contra- ctions observed since 2022 are now being reflected in lower implementation levels and expenditures. Several entities with predominantly humanitarian operations have recorded significant declines in expenses and, according to the financial projections presented in Figure 1, these downward trends are expected to persist over the 2026–2027 period.
Total expenses for development and humanitarian assistance by select UN entities, 2015–2025 (US$ billion, 2025 preliminary)
Source: Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB).
Note: The 2025 data, submitted through the 2026 CEB reporting exercise, is preliminary.
Endnotes
World Food Programme (WFP), ‘Annual Performance Report for 2024’, WFP/EB.A/2025/4-A/Rev.1, 6 June 2025, p. 7, https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000167222/download/.
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), ‘Financial report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024 and Report of the Board of Auditors’, A/80/5/Add.3, 2025, p. 15, https://docs.un.org/en/A/80/5/Add.3.
FAO, “FAO in the 2025 humanitarian appeals”, 2024, p. 3. https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/e8863fb8-d33e-….
WFP. WFP Annual Review 2025: Delivering Faster and Smarter Despite Compounding Crises. 2026. https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000174564/download/.
UNHCR. Global Appeal 2026. https://www.unhcr.org/media/global-appeal-2026. 2026. p. 9