Quantitative Assessment of German Capital Flows to Developing Countries

Project Context

Over the past two decades, a shift has been visible from Official Development Aid (ODA)-centered funding for development to a situation where private giving and financial transactions at market terms match – and exceed – public flows in quantity. As a basis for a deeper understanding of the relative importance of public and private financial flows with respect to development, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Hudson Institute have put forward various analyses focusing on the distribution between American public and private flows to the developing world.

Project Objectives

On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GPPi analyzed the overall financial flows from Germany to developing countries along four categories: official development aid and other official flows, private giving and development aid, private capital flows at market conditions, and remittances. Amongst the data sources for this work were official numbers from the Deutsche Bundesbank (German Federal Bank), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank as well as various numbers and estimates from other sources.

The end product of this study was a quantitative breakdown of financial flows from Germany into the developing world that are likely to impact development in those countries.