Statistical Classification Manual

Last updated in October 2024.

The Manual was first published in January 2015, and since then updated several times. 

Every year Norwegian Official Development Assistance (ODA) is reported to the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and official institutions like the Norwegian parliament.

Statistical information is often required to conduct brief analyses or in-depth studies of development-related topics. Norad provides statistical information to be used as background material for parliamentary propositions, analyses, reports, evaluations, dissertations, articles, strategies, books etc. Norad’s statistical database contains historical data, and not prognosis figures.

This manual has been developed for the “producers” of ODA statistics, mainly staff (Norad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the embassies), but also other ministries and cooperating partners providing yearly ODA statistics (Norfund, Norec, Norwegian NGOs etc). The manual also provides information to the “users” of ODA statistics, i.e. staff, NGOs, journalists, students, researchers and others.

The purpose of the statistical manual is to contribute to quality assurance of all statistical information coded by the “producers” of ODA. The information about coding and classifications given in Part 1 of the manual is there to help “producers” of ODA statistics, as well as “users”, to understand the content of the different variables. Part 2 covers registration of the statistics in PTA.

If you are interested in the extent of Norwegian Official Development Assistance, and who the recipients are, please visit Norad’s statistics website. This page provides information on Norwegian Official Development Assistance (ODA) since 1960. As from 1980, this information is divided in sector, region, country, type of assistance and year.

If you have any questions regarding the statistical manual in particular, or statistics for Norwegian Official Development Assistance (ODA) in general, please contact Norad’s Section for Statistics and Analysis.