According to the UN, by the end of 2024, the amount of unpaid contributions reached $760 million, most of which remains unpaid. Additionally, the UN expects to receive $877 million for the year 2025. As a result, the total debt of countries is approximately $1.586 billion.
As of today, five weeks before the end of the year, only 145 out of 193 UN member states have fulfilled their contribution obligations for 2025. Among major contributors, such as the United States, there have been no financial inflows so far, while China fully met its financial obligation on October 29. Russia has also not made its contribution.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly emphasized the importance of timely and full payment of contributions by countries.
The regular UN budget for 2026 will amount to $3.238 billion, which is $577 million (15.1 percent) less than in 2025. As part of optimization, it is planned to reduce 2,681 positions, which constitutes 18.8 percent of the current number of staff.
Special political missions are also expected to see a reduction of more than 21 percent compared to the current year, related to the closure of some missions and staff optimization.
To reduce costs, the UN intends to consolidate payroll processing into a single global system and create shared administrative centers in New York and Bangkok.
The UN Secretariat is also considering moving a number of functions to regions with lower costs. Since 2017, terminating leases in New York has saved the Organization $126 million, and by 2028, an additional savings of $24.5 million per year is expected.
