The Healthier Hearts Foundation recognizes the critical challenges facing developing countries in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. With external debt levels soaring and compounded by factors such as inflation and escalating interest rates, these nations are in urgent need of debt relief and financial assistance. While official development assistance has reached unprecedented levels, much of it is directed towards domestic concerns in donor countries, diverting attention from global needs. Moreover, despite significant progress in Internet access over recent years, the pandemic has slowed efforts to bridge the digital divide, necessitating sustained action to ensure equitable access for all. Additionally, geopolitical tensions and the resurgence of nationalism threaten international cooperation, underscoring the need for a united effort to provide developing nations with the necessary resources and technologies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, developing countries are contending with an unprecedented surge in external debt levels. This challenge is compounded by issues such as record inflation, escalating interest rates, competing priorities, and constrained fiscal capacity. These factors underscore the urgent necessity for debt relief and financial assistance.
Despite the fact that official development assistance (ODA) flows continue to reach historic highs, the rise observed in 2022 is primarily attributed to spending on refugees in donor countries and aid provided to Ukraine.
Despite a 65 percent improvement in Internet access since 2015, progress in bridging the digital divide has slowed down post-pandemic. Sustained efforts are necessary to ensure equitable access to the Internet for all.
Geopolitical tensions and the resurgence of nationalism hinder international cooperation and coordination, emphasizing the importance of a collective surge in action to provide developing countries with the necessary financing and technologies to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In the wake of the pandemic, many developing countries are facing a debt crisis. The debt levels of numerous countries reached record highs during the pandemic, posing a potential threat to economic growth. The total external debt of low- and middle-income countries reached $9 trillion in 2021, marking a 5.6 percent increase from 2020. This rise was primarily driven by an increase in short-term debt. Close to 7 in 10 countries in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) experienced a higher debt-to-export ratio in 2021 compared to 2015.
Moreover, challenges such as high inflation, competing priorities, and rising borrowing costs have exacerbated the risk of debt distress. As of November 2022, more than half (37 out of 69) of the world’s poorest countries were either at high risk of or already in debt distress. Meanwhile, one in four middle-income countries, home to the majority of the extreme poor, faced a high risk of fiscal crisis. Some countries with unsustainable levels of debt service have already opted for sovereign debt restructuring, while others remain vulnerable.
Despite record-breaking global trade increases, the share of exports from Least Developed Countries (LDCs) has stagnated and remains far from the target. Exports of merchandise and services were already slowing down in 2019, but 2020 saw a decline comparable to the recession of 2009. As pandemic-related restrictions were gradually lifted, global exports increased sharply by 24.8 percent in 2021 and 12.3 percent in 2022. Global trade reached a record $32 trillion in 2022. However, the outlook for global trade in 2023 appears subdued due to deteriorating economic conditions.
The share of exports from LDCs in global merchandise trade was merely 1.1 percent in 2022, only a 0.07 percentage point increase from 2021. The target of doubling the share of LDCs’ exports by 2020 from its value of 1.02 percent in 2011 has therefore not been met. On the other hand, all developing countries combined saw an increase in their share of global merchandise trade, reaching 45.3 percent in 2022, a rise of 4 percentage points compared with 2016. This upward trend has been sustained over the past six years.
Official development assistance surged in 2022 owing to spending on refugees in donor countries and aid to Ukraine. Since 2018, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has been publishing data on headline ODA volume and ODA as a proportion of Gross National Income (GNI) on the grant equivalent basis. SDG 17.2.1 is measured on a net ODA basis; therefore, the figures presented here may differ slightly. In 2022, net ODA flows by member countries of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) reached $206 billion (current price), marking an increase of 15.3 percent in real terms from 2021. This was the fourth consecutive year ODA surpassed its record levels, and one of the highest growth rates recorded in its history. However, total ODA as a percentage of gross national income continues to remain below the target of 0.7 percent, reaching 0.37 percent in 2022.
The increase was primarily due to domestic spending on refugees and aid for Ukraine. Refugee costs in donor countries amounted to $29.3 billion in 2022, representing 14.2 percent of DAC member countries’ total ODA. Net ODA to Ukraine accounted for $16.1 billion, representing 7.8 percent of total ODA. Initial estimates indicate that DAC countries spent $11.2 billion on activities related to COVID-19, down by 45 percent compared with 2021. Net bilateral ODA flows to African countries experienced a real-term decline of 7.4 percent compared with 2021.
Internet usage reaches two-thirds of the world’s population, but gender and connectivity gaps persist. An estimated 5.3 billion people – 66 percent of the world’s population – used the Internet in 2022. This reflects a substantial increase of 65 percent from the 40 percent coverage observed in 2015. The growth rate was 6.1 percent over 2021, but it falls short of the 11 percent growth witnessed during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019–2020. Nevertheless, 2.7 billion people are still offline, highlighting that substantial work is still needed to achieve the universal connectivity target by 2030. Universal connectivity remains particularly challenging in LDCs and LLDCs, where only 36 percent of the population is currently online.
Globally, 69 percent of men are using the Internet, compared with 63 percent of women. This means there were 259 million more male Internet users than female users in 2022.
The world needs more timely, detailed, and accurate data to tackle a multitude of crises, but funding for data and statistics is ever more scarce. International funding for data and statistics amounted to only $541 million in 2020, a decrease of more than $100 million and $138 million from funding levels in 2019 and 2018, respectively. Between 2018 and 2020, ODA funding for data dropped by more than 20 percent. The reduced funding for statistics may impact the most vulnerable countries disproportionately. While data showed international funding bounced back to an estimated amount of $693 million in 2021, this increase was mainly due to one donor, and total funding remained insufficient to meet the growing need for more and better data. Countries still face long-standing challenges in mainstreaming data activities, with a limited pool of donors and low strategic priority generally assigned to statistics.
A total of 156 countries and territories were implementing a national statistical plan in 2022, up from 150 in 2021, with 100 of these plans fully funded. However, due to the long-lasting impact of the pandemic and limited capacity in strategic planning, many national statistical offices are implementing expired strategic plans that may not meet emerging data needs.
