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2025 Southeast Asia Aid Map in four charts2025 Southeast Asia Aid Map in four charts
In 2023, official development finance to Southeast Asia rose slightly to $29 billion, driven largely by increased nonconcessional loans from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and China to larger economies, while concessional loans and grants stagnated, hitting the region’s poorest countries in particular.
The United States and a number of European governments are pulling back from international development cooperation, potentially pushing regional development finance flows to a new low by 2026 and threatening critical funding for the region’s most vulnerable countries and sectors.
Spending on infrastructure by both China and traditional development partners has slowed. So too have project commitments, indicating reduced future financing. Reduced financing for clean energy is especially concerning given the region’s growing emissions.
There has been progress in aligning development finance with Southeast Asia’s climate, gender, and disability needs. But looming aid cuts and backlash from the Trump administration in the United States could derail this progress.
About the authors
Alexandre Dayant
Alexandre Dayant is a senior economist and former Deputy Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre, a dedicated policy research centre within the Lowy Institute.
Grace Stanhope
Grace Stanhope is a former Research Fellow in the Indo-Pacific Development Centre at the Lowy Institute, working on the Southeast Asia Aid Map. Her work focused on tracking and analysing foreign aid and development finance flows to Southeast Asia.
Roland Rajah
Roland Rajah is Lead Economist and Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre at the Lowy Institute, focusing on economic development challenges across Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and South Asia. His research spans macroeconomics, aid and development finance, geoeconomics, and regional integration.
Hannah Buckley
Hannah Buckley was a Research Assistant at the Lowy Institute, contributing to the Southeast Asia Aid Map project.
