Brunei is a high-income country, one of only two in Southeast Asia. Brunei’s roughly $15 billion GDP (2023) makes up 0.4% of the region’s GDP, and it has by far the smallest population at just 458,000. Brunei’s per capita GDP in 2023 was $32,962, the second-highest in the region behind Singapore.
Despite its relative wealth, Brunei contributes very little to intra-regional official development finance (ODF).
Within the region, Brunei made an annual contribution to the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management totalling $714,259 between 2015 and 2023. In this period, it also disbursed ODF on two other occasions: a $100,000 grant in 2018 to aid flood victims in Laos and a donation of Covid vaccines worth $9,227 to the Philippines in 2021.
Brunei is also a recipient of ODF. Between 2015 and 2023, it received $1 billion, averaging $114 million annually. China contributed 99.7% of this sum, largely due to loans from China Development Bank and Export–Import Bank of China to finance energy projects.
There was minimal integration of climate action, gender equality, or disability inclusion objectives in Brunei’s ODF.
- Received
- Provided