Donor-reported nutrition expenditure
Purpose and scope
The Global Nutrition Report (GNR) compiles and publishes donor-reported nutrition expenditure (“spend” or “disbursements”) to support transparency and accountability for funding towards achieving nutrition aims. This page presents donor-reported nutrition expenditure for 2021–2023, along with information on how the donors estimate and report this data.
Although the page focuses primarily on organisations participating in the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) process, the expenditure data does not necessarily correspond directly to N4G commitments. Most donor commitments made at the 2021 and 2025 N4G Summits are not expressed as specific financial commitments, and donors make nutrition investments that fall outside the scope of their N4G commitments.
Governments, donors, researchers and civil society organisations use the expenditure estimates and accompanying methodological notes to monitor resourcing for nutrition action, support accountability efforts and inform policy and investment decisions.
Donor approaches to identifying and reporting nutrition expenditure have evolved substantially over time. Increasing use of the Nutrition Policy Marker (NPM), alongside continued use of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Donor Network (SDN) Methodology and donor-specific adaptations, means that reported expenditure is not always directly comparable across reporting periods.
As a result, changes over time may reflect methodological shifts, reporting practices and classification approaches, as well as changes in underlying nutrition investment. Users should therefore exercise caution when interpreting trends and comparing expenditure across years.
To improve transparency and avoid misleading comparisons, data reported for 2010–2020 is archived separately from the 2021–2023 data presented on this page.
How data reaches the GNR
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Creditor Reporting System (CRS) records Official Development Assistance (ODA) and other development finance. This includes grant and core funding to multilaterals, as well as financing such as loans. Many philanthropies and members of the OECD DAC report such data into the CRS annually, typically by July of the following year. When they do so, they assign each development activity a DAC purpose code (mandatory) and may assign Nutrition Policy Marker (NPM) codes (voluntary).
Donors then use this data—or equivalent internal reporting systems and datasets for organisations that do not report through the CRS—together with any additional analysis required by their reporting approach, to identify nutrition-relevant investments and calculate nutrition expenditure estimates. Depending on the methodology used, this may include reviewing projects and activities, validating classifications, estimating the nutrition-relevant share of investments or applying donor-specific assumptions and weightings.
For their calculations, most donors begin with either of two agreed methods: the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Donor Network (SDN) Methodology based on OECD DAC purpose codes, or a method based on the OECD DAC NPM. The table below describes these two methods.
Once this process is complete—often approximately a year later—donors report their nutrition expenditure estimates and accompanying donor-specific methodological note directly to the GNR.
How donors calculate nutrition expenditure
Donors use different approaches to identify and calculate nutrition expenditure. The two principal approaches currently used are the SDN Methodology and a method using the NPM. Table 1 compares the key characteristics of these approaches.
Table 1: Comparison of the SDN Methodology and the methodology using the NPM.
| . | SDN Methodology | NPM Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Developers | SUN Donor Network, with support from expert consultants | Working Party on Development Finance Statistics (WP-STAT), a technical body of the OECD, the SUN Movement Secretariat and the SUN Donor Network, with support from expert consultants and advocates |
| Date approved | 2013 | 2018 |
| Primary purpose | Estimate nutrition expenditure | Identify, classify and monitor investments for which nutrition is an objective |
| Main approach | Uses CRS purpose codes assigned to an investment, keyword searches and project review to identify nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive investments and estimate the nutrition-relevant share of each investment | Uses a CRS policy marker assigned to an investment to assess the extent to which nutrition is an objective of an investment |
| How donors classify investments | Nutrition-specific or nutrition-sensitive | NPM 2 (nutrition is a principal objective); NPM 1 (nutrition is a significant objective); NPM 0 (nutrition is not an objective) |
| Typical weighting approach | Applies weighting factors to estimate nutrition-relevant share of investments | Primarily reports investments by marker classification; weighting may be applied separately when estimating nutrition expenditure |
| What it measures | Estimated nutrition expenditure | Extent to which nutrition is an objective of an investment |
| Integration with OECD reporting | Uses CRS reporting data, including purpose codes, as inputs to a subsequent methodology that identifies nutrition-relevant investments and estimates nutrition expenditure | Integrated directly into CRS reporting through the application of the NPM at the time donors report investments into the CRS |
|
Treatment of core contributions to multilaterals |
May include estimated nutrition-relevant shares of core contributions to multilateral organisations, depending on donor methodology and reporting practices | Generally excludes core contributions because donors apply the NPM to individual activities reported in the CRS, rather than to unearmarked core contributions |
| Strengths | Designed specifically to estimate nutrition expenditure and distinguish between nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive investments | More standardised across donors and aligned with reporting on other cross-cutting priorities (e.g. policy markers on the environment, gender, disability) |
| Limitations |
Resource-intensive and subject to donor interpretation |
Designed to identify whether nutrition is an objective of an investment rather than to estimate nutrition expenditure; therefore results are not directly comparable with expenditure estimates derived using the SDN Methodology |
Acronyms: CRS = Creditor Reporting System; NPM = Nutrition Policy Marker; SDN = SUN Donor Network; SUN = Scaling Up Nutrition Movement; WP-STAT = Working Party on Development Finance Statistics.
Since the 2013 N4G Summit, donor reporting on nutrition funding has shifted alongside broader changes in development finance reporting. Many donors initially used the SDN Methodology to estimate nutrition expenditure and distinguish between nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive investments. While designed specifically for nutrition, the method required substantial manual review and applied additional analysis to data reported through the OECD CRS.
The OECD’s 2018 introduction of the NPM gave donors a more standardised way to identify and monitor investments for which nutrition is an objective within the CRS. Rather than categorising investments as nutrition-specific or nutrition-sensitive (which does not translate beyond nutrition), the NPM assesses the extent to which nutrition is a principal or significant objective of an investment. Its integration into OECD reporting frameworks and alignment with other policy markers have encouraged wider adoption.
The approaches serve different purposes. The SDN Methodology estimates nutrition expenditure, while the NPM identifies and monitors investments with nutrition objectives. As donors have adopted different methods and adapted them to meet their own reporting needs, comparability across donors and over time has decreased.
The shift in approaches reflects a broader effort to balance rigour, consistency, reporting burden and comparability. Understanding these differences is important when interpreting donor-reported nutrition expenditure and trends over time.
Interpreting the data
Donors using the SDN Methodology typically report nutrition expenditure as nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive spending, while donors using the NPM report expenditure according to the extent to which nutrition is an objective of an investment.
Because donors use different methodologies, assumptions, coding practices and classification systems, expenditure figures are not directly comparable across donors or over time. Differences in reported expenditure may reflect changes in methodology, coding practices or reporting approaches, rather than actual changes in investment levels.
In addition, the NPM generally excludes donors’ core contributions to multilateral organisations because the marker is applied to individual activities rather than unearmarked core funding. As a result, expenditure reported using the NPM may understate a donor’s total contribution to nutrition. Where a donor has transitioned from the SDN Methodology to the NPM, an apparent decline in reported expenditure may therefore reflect the change in methodology rather than a reduction in nutrition funding.
Donor-specific notes provide additional information on the methodologies, assumptions and classification approaches used to estimate nutrition expenditure.
Reported nutrition expenditure
Table 2 presents donor-reported nutrition expenditure for 2021-2023 using each donor's reporting methodology and categories.
Table 2. Donor-reported nutrition expenditure, by methodology-specific category, 2021–2023 (US$).
| Donor | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 132,273,376 | 116,267,166 | 108,592,452 |
| Nutrition-specific | 2,483,665 | 4,595,644 | 6,516,511 |
| Nutrition-sensitive | 129,789,711 | 111,671,522 | 102,075,941 |
| Canada | 1,364,328,953 | 1,504,636,853 | 1,274,275,550 |
| Nutrition-specific | 115,824,765 | 63,152,640 | 73,527,014 |
| Nutrition-sensitive | 1,248,504,188 | 1,441,484,213 | 1,200,748,536 |
|
European Commission |
1,352,011,269 | 1,379,462,485 | 1,447,362,529 |
| NPM 2 | 138,668,618 | 119,707,162 | 166,347,558 |
| NPM 1 | 1,213,342,651 | 1,259,755,323 | 1,281,014,971 |
| France | 57,942,500 | 127,587,500 | 294,457,500 |
| NPM 2 | 39,980,000 | 113,460,000 | 264,800,000 |
| NPM 1 | 17,962,500 | 14,127,500 | 29,657,500 |
|
Gates Foundation |
275,000,000 | 312,000,000 | 336,000,000 |
| NPM 2 | 154,000,000 | 175,000,000 | 190,000,000 |
| NPM 1 | 121,000,000 | 137,000,000 | 146,000,000 |
| Germany | 273,963,772 | 457,534,395 | 359,592,235 |
| Nutrition-specific | 96,870,052 | 167,540,380 | 142,111,327 |
| Nutrition-sensitive | 177,093,720 | 289,994,015 | 217,480,908 |
| Ireland | 197,311,127 | 202,815,415 | 251,585,343 |
| NPM 2 | 44,618,947 | 65,977,421 | 71,346,240 |
| NPM 1 | 152,692,180 | 136,837,994 | 180,239,103 |
| Japan | Not reported | 909,428,000 | 505,635,000 |
| NPM 2 | Not reported | 78,322,000 | 264,661,000 |
| NPM 1 | Not reported | 831,106,000 | 240,974,000 |
|
Kirk Humanitarian |
22,000,000 | 22,000,000 | 22,000,000 |
| Nutrition-specific | 22,000,000 | 22,000,000 | 22,000,000 |
| Nutrition-sensitive | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Netherlands | 0 | 88,739,255 | 88,739,255* |
| Nutrition-specific | 0 | 88,739,255 | 88,739,255 |
| Nutrition-sensitive | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| Slovenia | 673,202 | 2,118,109 | 3,281,877 |
| Nutrition-specific | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nutrition-sensitive | 673,202 | 2,118,109 | 3,281,877 |
|
United Kingdom |
441,540,578 | 451,676,529 | 297,327,533 |
| Nutrition-specific | 52,132,050 | 42,406,312 | 30,950,901 |
| Nutrition-sensitive | 389,408,528 | 409,270,217 | 266,376,632 |
* The amount reported for 2023 is reflective of the combined total disbursement for nutrition-specific programmes in 2022 and 2023.
Acronyms: NPM = Nutrition Policy Marker.
Source: Based on data provided by donor organisations.
Notes: Data are reported in current prices and presented in US$. Where donors reported in another currency, values were converted to US$ using annual average exchange rates. See the donor-specific methodological notes below for additional information on calculation methods and reporting approaches.
Donor-specific methodological notes
Table 3: A comparison of methodologies used by donors to calculate nutrition expenditure, 2021-2023.
| Donor | Methodology |
Nutrition expenditure identification approach |
Weighting approach | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | SDN | Nutrition-specific: CRS purpose code 12240 (basic nutrition); Nutrition-sensitive: nutrition-sensitive purpose codes + nutrition theme tag | Nutrition-specific: 100%; Nutrition-sensitive: principal = 100%, significant = 25% | Nutrition expenditure includes both direct nutrition interventions and nutrition-sensitive investments, measured using the SUN methodology and weighted according to their contribution to nutrition outcomes. |
| Canada | SDN | Nutrition-specific: CRS purpose code 12240 (basic nutrition); Nutrition-sensitive: pre-defined subset of CRS codes linked to nutrition-sensitive outcomes | Nutrition-specific: 100%; Nutrition-sensitive: 100% | |
| European Commission | NPM | Nutrition-specific: CRS purpose code 12240 (basic nutrition); Nutrition-sensitive: pre-defined subset of OECD DAC purpose codes linked to nutrition-sensitive outcomes | Nutrition-specific: 100%; Nutrition-sensitive: 100% | |
| France | NPM | NPM | NPM 2 = 100%; NPM 1 = 25%. | Awards only; awards to United Nations organisations excluded |
| Gates Foundation | NPM | |||
| Germany | SDN | Nutrition-specific: CRS purpose code 12240 (basic nutrition); Nutrition-sensitive: CRS purpose codes 43071, 43072, 43073, 15220, 16050, 91010 | Nutrition-specific: 100%; Nutrition-sensitive: dominant = 100%, partially nutrition-sensitive = 25% | Nutrition-sensitive investments reviewed and classified as dominant or partially nutrition-sensitive based on output, outcome, indicators and key word search |
| Ireland | NPM | NPM | 100% | Core multilateral contributions excluded |
| Japan | NPM | NPM | 100% | |
| Kirk Humanitarian | N/A | Nutrition-specific: CRS purpose code 12240 (basic nutrition) | 100% | All expenditure classified as nutrition-specific |
| Netherlands | SDN | Nutrition-specific: CRS purpose code 12240 (basic nutrition) | 100% | Nutrition-sensitive expenditure not tracked |
| Slovenia | SDN | Nutrition-sensitive: CRS purpose codes 72040, 72010, 43072, 31181, 14030 | 100% | Within the framework of the Food Assistance Convention |
| United Kingdom | SDN | Nutrition-specific: CRS purpose code 12240 (basic nutrition); Nutrition-sensitive: pre-defined subset of CRS codes and keywords linked to nutrition-sensitive outcomes | Nutrition-specific: 100%; Nutrition-sensitive: dominant= 100%, partially nutrition-sensitive 25% |
Acronyms: CRS = Creditor Reporting System; NPM = Nutrition Policy Marker; SDN = SUN Donor Network; SUN = Scaling Up Nutrition Movement.