Rich countries' development aid hit a record high in 2014 but the share that reached the world's poorest countries was the lowest since 2006, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says.
Official development assistance (ODA) reached $US137.2 billion ($A191.05 billion) in 2014, $US2 billion more than in 2013, the Paris-based international think-tank said on Tuesday.
But ODA to the poorest countries fell for the second year, dropping by 9.3 per cent in real terms from 2013 levels as some funds were diverted to other countries, the OECD said.
"It's been a worrisome trend that's been going on for a number of years now," Yasmin Ahmad, manager of the body's data collection unit, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview from France.
"The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) is trying to highlight this issue and is very much focused on putting the least developed countries as prime focus again."
The least developed countries together received $US43.7 billion in ODA in 2014 - 30 per cent of the total and their lowest share since 2006.
The OECD said that aid to the poorest countries had fallen - by $US4.5 billion in 2014 - partly because of lower levels of debt relief to Myanmar.
"This news must act as a wake-up call to world leaders who should urgently commit 50 per cent of their aid to the world's least developed countries," Adrian Lovett, Europe executive director for advocacy group ONE Campaign, said in a statement.
Afghanistan, which received $US4.8 billion, was the largest recipient of net ODA, followed by Vietnam, Syria, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Egypt and Turkey.
