Programme budget

The programme budget, or regular budget, is the budget of the United Nations prepared by the Secretary-General in his capacity as chief administrative officer of the Organization and approved by the General Assembly. It does not cover the expenses of large peacekeeping missions funded through separate special accounts. The appropriation for the approved budget is apportioned amongst Member States on the basis of the scale of assessments.

The Dag Hammarskjöld Library has an excellent guide to the programme budget and the many different documents and intergovernmental bodies involved in the budget process: UN Documentation: Regular Budget

Budget period

The programme budget runs from 1 January to 31 December, unlike peacekeeping budgets, which run from 1 July to 30 June.

The budget was originally produced and approved on an annual basis. In General Assembly resolution 3043 (XXVII) of 19 December 1972, the General Assembly approved, "on an experimental basis" the move to a biennial (two-year) budget. The first biennial budget, covering calendar years 1974 and 1975, was approved in General Assembly resolution 3199 (XXVIII) of 18 December 1973. As part of the management reform, the General Assembly approved "the proposed change from a biennial to an annual budget period on a trial basis, beginning with the programme budget for 2020", in its resolution 72/266 of 24 December 2017.

Budget structure

The programme budget is divided into parts corresponding to the broad categorization of activities performed by the United Nations. Each part is subdivided into one or more sections, which in turn are subdivided into the budgets for individual entities (e.g. departments and offices). For example, Part II of the 2020 programme budget is divided as follows:

Part II: Political affairs

Section 3: Political affairs

I. Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs

II. Special political missions

III. Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process

IV. United Nations Register of Damage

V. United Nations Office to the African Union

V. Office of Counter-Terrorism

Section 4: Disarmament

Section 5: Peacekeeping operations

I. Department of Peace Operations

II. United Nations Truce Supervision Organization

III. United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan

Section 6: Peaceful uses of outer space

The programme budget is also presented on the basis of different types of expenses, which are referred to as objects of expenditure, as follows:

• Posts
• Other staff costs
• Non-staff compensation
• Consultants
• Experts
• Travel of representatives
• Travel of staff
• Contractual services
• General operating expenses
• Hospitality
• Supplies and materials
• Furniture and equipment
• Improvement of premises
• Grants and contributions

Budget process

The regulations and rules that govern the budget are the Regulations and Rules Governing Programme Planning and the Financial Regulations and Rules.

Relevant reports on the current annual budget process:

• A/74/852 Shifting the management paradigm in the United Nations: Budgetary procedures and practices
• A/75/6 (Introduction) Proposed programme budget for 2021: Forward and introduction (see section A: Methodology and Format)

Approved budgets

The approved annual budgets under the process approved in General Assembly resolution 72/266A are as follows:

• A/74/6/Add.1 Programme budget for 2020

Approved levels

The basis of assessment for recent calendar years, reflecting the approved level of the budget and all add-ons, is reflected below.

Year	Basis for assessment	Resolution	Member States	Non-Member States	Notes
2021	$3,176,058,600	75/254 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/1023	ST/ADM/SER.B/1024	No consensus; budget adopted by vote of 168-2-0 (Israel and United States voted against)
2020	$3,084,608,300	74/264 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/1008	ST/ADM/SER.B/1009
2019	$3,064,575,900	73/280 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/992	ST/ADM/SER.B/993
2018	$2,688,127,790	72/263 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/973	ST/ADM/SER.B/974
2017	$2,776,529,900	72/374 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/955	ST/ADM/SER.B/956
2016	$2,745,188,100	70/249C	ST/ADM/SER.B/932	ST/ADM/SER.B/933	$45 mil related to the capital master plan to be assessed under 2013-2015 scale and the rest under the 2016-2018 scale
2015	$2,976,267,900	69/263 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/910	ST/ADM/SER.B/911
2014	$2,823,653,100	68/248 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/889	ST/ADM/SER.B/890	Assessment for State of Palestine introduced
2013	$2,811,278,100	67/247 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/866	ST/ADM/SER.B/867
2012	$2,585,230,800	66/248 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/853	ST/ADM/SER.B/854
2011	$2,648,538,700	65/260 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/824	ST/ADM/SER.B/825
2010	$2,350,606,850	64/244 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/789	ST/ADM/SER.B/791
2009	$2,719,509,550	63/264 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/755	ST/ADM/SER.B/756
2008	$2,060,629,050	62/237 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/719	ST/ADM/SER.B/720
2007	$2,241,667,450	61/253 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/701	ST/ADM/SER.B/702
2006	$1,924,840,250	60/247 C	ST/ADM/SER.B/668	ST/ADM/SER.B/669

See also

• Scale of assessments; includes list of budget resolutions
• Budget terminology