Sustainability Language · An EmpCo reference
Development finance
Other Official Flows (OOF)
Definition
Other Official Flows are transactions by the official sector to developing countries and multilateral institutions that do not qualify as Official Development Assistance — either because their primary purpose is not development (for example export-related official finance) or because they are not sufficiently concessional under OECD DAC criteria.
References
Supports definition and framing.
Overview
What it means
OOF captures the substantial volume of non-concessional official lending and investment to developing countries. Tracking it alongside ODA gives a fuller picture of total official support for development, a measure now formalised as Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD).
How it is used
The OECD DAC reports OOF in its creditor reporting statistics; analysts use the category to compare concessional and non-concessional development finance across donors and instruments.
Why it matters
Distinguishing OOF from ODA preserves the integrity of aid statistics and clarifies what counts as development assistance, a matter of accountability for donors and of realism about the finance actually available to developing countries.