§ The Earl of Sandwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
In the light of the effect which the United States' figure for overseas aid (0.15 per cent of gross national 3WA product) has on the Development Assistance Committee's average figure (0.29 per cent., inclusive of the United States figure), whether the United Kingdom's figure of 0.31 per cent. can be justified by means of comparison with the committee's average figure.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyThe comparison is fully justified; there are no good reasons for removing the USA from a calculation of relative effort by Western donors. In 1994, of the 21 DAC donor countries, 11 spent a higher proportion of GNP than the UK on aid, while nine countries spent a smaller proportion. This places the UK near the mid-point of the table. Three of our G7 partners—the world's biggest economies—spent a higher proportion than we did, three less.