A new report from the Center for Global Development (CGD) warns that many of the world’s wealthiest nations—including the United States and Japan—are pulling back from their roles as global development leaders. The findings come from the latest edition of the Commitment to Development Index, which evaluates 38 major economies on more than 100 indicators spanning aid, investment, migration, trade, environment, health, security and technology. The study paints a sobering picture: instead of expanding support for poorer nations, many high-income countries are retrenching, cutting aid budgets and redirecting money away from multilateral lenders.
The index showed that Nordic and central European nations once again led the rankings, with Sweden, Germany, Norway and Finland retaining the top positions thanks to strong aid commitments and pro-development policies. The United Kingdom rose two spots to number five, though CGD noted that this improvement reflects data gathered before the British government enacted a sweeping 40% reduction in its aid budget. Researchers expect the UK to fall sharply in future editions as the effects of those cuts are fully accounted for.
The United States slipped two places to number 28, a position that does not yet capture the deeper aid reductions imposed under President Donald Trump. CGD senior policy fellow Ian Mitchell said the cuts already announced were “very significant” and predicted that the U.S. would decline further in upcoming rankings. The report arrives just as South Africa prepares to host the G20 summit, where it will transfer the presidency to the United States. Trump, who shuttered USAID earlier this year and has overseen a steep contraction in development financing, will not attend the first G20 gathering ever held on African soil.
Across the wealthy world, governments have increasingly prioritized defence spending over development programs, a trend the CGD study describes as a reversal of decades of global cooperation. Still, the report highlighted a few positive developments. More than three-quarters of the countries surveyed reduced emissions between 2019 and 2023, despite China’s rising output lifting the global total. Mitchell noted that several nations also expanded their intake of migrants and refugees during the same period, a shift that can indirectly support development by offering greater mobility and labour opportunities.
Yet these gains were overshadowed by what CGD called a broad “backward” movement. Arms exports climbed, trade barriers grew more restrictive and subsidies for fossil fuels surged across rich economies, undermining both development and climate goals. The think tank warned that if these trends continue, poorer nations will face mounting challenges just as global instability, economic stagnation and climate pressures accelerate.
