This guest blog was authored by Sebastian H. Schneider, Alexandra Gödderz, Helge Zille and Martin Bruder, the team behind the DEval Opinion Monitor for Development Policy, which examines public opinion and attitudes towards development cooperation in Germany.
German public support for current levels of development co-operation has dropped substantially. Between January 2022 and January 2025, the proportion of Germans in favour of maintaining or increasing development spending has fallen from 68% to 54%.
Our research suggests 5 possible explanations for the downward trend.
Explanation 1: Spikes of negative attention
In their day-to-day lives, most people pay little attention to development co-operation policy. Yet, when we examined social media data, we observed very unusual spikes in public attention at the end of 2023 and in early 2024. These coincided with heated debates about the German federal budget and farmer protests against the reduction of tax subsidies in early 2024. There was intense criticism of expenditure for development cooperation and, most prominently, public outrage over funding for bicycle paths in Peru.
This period of unusually high exposure to negative media coverage could have swayed people, particularly if they are not regularly exposed to development news.
Explanation 2: “Unstable attitudes”
Most people’s attitudes towards development cooperation can be described as “unstable”. Nearly 60 percent of Germans “moderately” support development cooperation, but their position is not firmly fixed. In contrast, roughly 20 percent of Germans can be considered “stable” supporters of development cooperation, while a similar share are stable opponents. In a moment of political crisis, heated debates such as the one about bike paths can easily sway people with unstable attitudes.
Figure 1. Likely drivers of shrinking support for development cooperation in Germany
Explanation 3: Negative perceptions of the economy
Our research finds that perceptions about the state of the national economy affect support for development cooperation. In 2022 and 2023, German citizens held a more negative view of their economy than in previous years. In a survey experiment, we found that support for development co-operation is lower when respondents are prompted about the tight federal budget.
Explanation 4: Populist anti-aid rhetoric
In a cross-country experimental study, we found evidence that populist rhetoric can reduce support for development co-operation. For Germany, the study suggests that those in the centre of the political spectrum or who are not sure about their political orientation are particularly susceptible to be swayed. As the experiment was fielded in 2019, before multiple economic and political crises, it is reasonable to assume that parts of the German public are now even more receptive to anti-development rhetoric.
Explanation 5: Polarising policy concepts
Germany adopted an explicitly feminist foreign and development policy in 2021. Research shows that while Germans support the individual core principles underpinning this feminist development policy, using the “feminist” label to describe these principles can be off-putting. German survey respondents viewed an explicitly feminist development policy less positively than, for instance, a “human rights-based” or “peace-promoting” approach.
Unsurprisingly, there is variation across political orientations, with Green and Left Party supporters responding positively to the “feminist” label. In contrast, sympathisers of other parties respond negatively to the label, even if the actual content of the policy is the same. As studies on the United Kingdom have also found, the “feminist” label may polarize public opinion, doing more harm than good when it comes to public support.
Implications for campaigners and policy makers
What do our findings imply for development strategists and communicators? Here are five suggestions.
- Be ready when development cooperation hits the spotlight. We will likely see more negative attention peaks in the future. Development organisations need to have their facts and communications strategies ready. Communicators should see any increased public attention to development-related issues as an opportunity to get their messages across.
- Cater to audiences with unstable attitudes. While many campaigns are understandably targeted at audiences with stable positive attitudes to development co-operation, communicators must also consider messages and frames that may appeal to a broader audience.
- Show the public that you take their financial concerns seriously. In times of limited budgets and economic decline, it is important to explain to citizens the “value” of spending on development cooperation, focusing on its effectiveness, efficiency, impact and relevance, and on what is done to avoid waste.
- Counter populist rhetoric with facts. After the German federal election in early 2025, criticism of and disinformation about development cooperation may be on the rise again (it was recently covered on a major German public television show). To counter such criticism and disinformation, it is crucial to have facts at hand, explaining how development co-operation helps tackle global challenges.
- Centre policy narratives on issues that the public supports. When looking at feminist development policy, for example, communications can highlight issues that enjoy broad public agreement, such as equality for women and girls. More importantly, it’s key to carefully consider whether and when to use the “feminist” label, which has a somewhat polarising effect.
Our DEval Opinion Monitor for Development Policy will continue to monitor and study public attitudes towards development cooperation. The 2026 edition will focus on public knowledge about, motives for, and prejudices against development cooperation, as well as further analyses of attitude strength.
This blog emerges from a workshop series co-hosted by the Development Engagement Lab and OECD DevCom in March 2025. The focus was on ‘Broadening the Consensus and Engaging Critics for International Development Cooperation.’ Read the first piece in the series here.
This guest blog was authored by Sebastian H. Schneider, Alexandra Gödderz, Helge Zille and Martin Bruder, the team behind the DEval Opinion Monitor for Development Policy, which examines public opinion and attitudes towards development cooperation in Germany.
German public support for current levels of development co-operation has dropped substantially. Between January 2022 and January 2025, the proportion of Germans in favour of maintaining or increasing development spending has fallen from 68% to 54%.
Our research suggests 5 possible explanations for the downward trend.
Explanation 1: Spikes of negative attention
In their day-to-day lives, most people pay little attention to development co-operation policy. Yet, when we examined social media data, we observed very unusual spikes in public attention at the end of 2023 and in early 2024. These coincided with heated debates about the German federal budget and farmer protests against the reduction of tax subsidies in early 2024. There was intense criticism of expenditure for development cooperation and, most prominently, public outrage over funding for bicycle paths in Peru.
This period of unusually high exposure to negative media coverage could have swayed people, particularly if they are not regularly exposed to development news.
Explanation 2: “Unstable attitudes”
Most people’s attitudes towards development cooperation can be described as “unstable”. Nearly 60 percent of Germans “moderately” support development cooperation, but their position is not firmly fixed. In contrast, roughly 20 percent of Germans can be considered “stable” supporters of development cooperation, while a similar share are stable opponents. In a moment of political crisis, heated debates such as the one about bike paths can easily sway people with unstable attitudes.
Figure 1. Likely drivers of shrinking support for development cooperation in Germany
Explanation 3: Negative perceptions of the economy
Our research finds that perceptions about the state of the national economy affect support for development cooperation. In 2022 and 2023, German citizens held a more negative view of their economy than in previous years. In a survey experiment, we found that support for development co-operation is lower when respondents are prompted about the tight federal budget.
Explanation 4: Populist anti-aid rhetoric
In a cross-country experimental study, we found evidence that populist rhetoric can reduce support for development co-operation. For Germany, the study suggests that those in the centre of the political spectrum or who are not sure about their political orientation are particularly susceptible to be swayed. As the experiment was fielded in 2019, before multiple economic and political crises, it is reasonable to assume that parts of the German public are now even more receptive to anti-development rhetoric.
Explanation 5: Polarising policy concepts
Germany adopted an explicitly feminist foreign and development policy in 2021. Research shows that while Germans support the individual core principles underpinning this feminist development policy, using the “feminist” label to describe these principles can be off-putting. German survey respondents viewed an explicitly feminist development policy less positively than, for instance, a “human rights-based” or “peace-promoting” approach.
Unsurprisingly, there is variation across political orientations, with Green and Left Party supporters responding positively to the “feminist” label. In contrast, sympathisers of other parties respond negatively to the label, even if the actual content of the policy is the same. As studies on the United Kingdom have also found, the “feminist” label may polarize public opinion, doing more harm than good when it comes to public support.
Implications for campaigners and policy makers
What do our findings imply for development strategists and communicators? Here are five suggestions.
Our DEval Opinion Monitor for Development Policy will continue to monitor and study public attitudes towards development cooperation. The 2026 edition will focus on public knowledge about, motives for, and prejudices against development cooperation, as well as further analyses of attitude strength.
This blog emerges from a workshop series co-hosted by the Development Engagement Lab and OECD DevCom in March 2025. The focus was on ‘Broadening the Consensus and Engaging Critics for International Development Cooperation.’ Read the first piece in the series here.