How is the United Nations funded?
Funding out of total ODA

The UN system continues to be not only the largest and fastest-growing channel for multilateral overseas development assistance, but the channel with the biggest share of earmarked funding. OECD-DAC countries contribute a higher proportion of earmarked funding to the UN system than they do to other multilateral institutions, such as the European Union, the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, and regional development banks. The proportion of earmarked UN funding from OECD-DAC countries has also grown substantially since 2011. In 2021, the UN received US$ 29 billion in funding, of which 73% was earmarked, compared to 60% in 2011. UN entities’ traditional role in crisis and emergency responses is one of the factors behind the UN’s relatively large share of earmarked contributions.

ODA to the UN was US$ 29 billion in 2021
Figure 27
Channels of multilateral assistance from OECD-DAC countries, core and earmarked, 2011 and 2021 (US$ billion)
2023 figure 27 channels-multilateral-assistance-oecd-dac-countries-core-and-earmarked-2011-and-2021-us
Key insights in a flash
The UN has grown the most in the past decade
The UN funding is earmarked to a higher extent

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)