Dear Mr Johnson

Freedom of Information Request F2008-183

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 24 July in which you asked:

“What amount does the UK Government pay from the public purse in Overseas

Aid in a period of twelve months?”

The UK's Gross Public Expenditure on Development (GPEX) amounted to

£7.5 billion in 2006/07.

DFID publishes an annual report called `Statistics on International Development' (SID), which shows how official UK financial resources for international development are spent. These statistics give details of support from the Department for International Development (DFID) as well as from other UK official sources. Expenditure is broken down by destination country, type of assistance and purpose. It also gives details of UK funding which is channelled through multilateral agencies such as the United Nations and the European Commission. The latest issue covers the years 2002/03-2006/07, and is available online at:

http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/sid2007/contents.asp

The next edition of SID will be published in September 2008. It will include details of spending by all UK official sources for 2007/08. However, DFID spending figures for 2007/08 have already been published, and the total DFID programme was £5.2 billion for that financial year. You can find out more about how DFID is using this money to help reduce global poverty on this web link: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/aboutdfid/dfidsuccesses.asp

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me, quoting reference F2008-183.

If you are unhappy with the service we have provided and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision, you should write to Stephen Latham, Head of Knowledge and Information Management at the address shown above or email him at [email address].

If you do make a complaint and are not content with the outcome, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted DFID's complaints procedure. You can contact the Information Commissioner at:

The Information Commissioner's Office,

Wycliffe House,

Water Lane,

Wilmslow,

Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

Maureen McWhirter

Openness Unit

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