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We have compiled the latest updates on impact bonds around the world from our Impact Bond Dataset. We had three projects added to the database in the past month.

The first is the Bedayat Social Impact Bond which is a support program for families who are going through divorce with young children (aged 0-8 years).

We also have two new projects from Denmark: Comprehensive employment intervention for mentally vulnerable citizens (Slagelse Municipality) and Comprehensive social and employment intervention for families in vulnerable residential areas (Viborg Municipality). The first is an intervention, based on the IPS (Individual Placement and Support) method, which internationally has shown good results in terms of helping mentally vulnerable people achieve employment or start an education. The second is a comprehensive social intervention in 3 residential areas in Viborg Municipality. The aim of the intervention is to strengthen employment, education, life prospects, cohesion and engagements for the residents of Viborg Municipality.

Global impact bond landscape

Total
290
Impact bonds
USD
> 763m
Capital raised
USD
1,235,438
Median
  • Calculations are based on the variable "Total Investment Commitment - Exact Amount in USD". When projects have minimum and maximum values (instead of exact amount of investment commitment), we include minimum values in the overall sum.
  • The investment figure is based on available data from 232 projects.
Service users
>2,597,651
Median
500
Service users
Average duration
4 years (approx)
50 months (approx)
  • The service user figure is based on available data from 237 projects. 52 projects have data on actual number of service users, 185 projects have data on target number of service users and 53 projects do not have data on service users.
  • The average duration of service delivery is based on available data from 262 projects.

Stage of development of impact bonds

* Projects fall under the 'service delivery complete' category when they finished delivering services, but they haven't received the last outcome payment yet. Data definitions for the Impact Bond Dataset can be found here.

Global impact bonds by policy area

Leading impact bond countries

(by number of impact bonds)

Impact bond landscape in the UK

UK total
98
Impact Bonds
GBP
> 75 m
Capital raised
GBP
843,334
Median
  • When projects have minimum and maximum values (instead of exact amount of investment commitment), we include minimum values in the overall sum.
  • This figure is based on available data from 76 projects.

Stage of development of impact bonds in the UK

* Projects fall under the 'service delivery complete' category when they finished delivering services, but they haven't received the last outcome payment yet.

Service users
> 118,150
Median
407.5
Service users
Average duration
51 months (approx)
4.3 years (approx)
  • The service user figure for the UK is based on available data for 80 projects. 28 projects reported data on actual number of engaged service users, 52 projects reported data of target number of engaged service users and 18 projects did not report data on service users.
  • The average duration of service delivery is based on available data from 91 projects.

UK impact bonds by policy area

Notes

Please read our new Dictionary of Data Definitions and have a look at the open-source code on our GitHub site.

Service users

The number of service users is a combination of two values. Completed projects have data on the actual number of service users and ongoing projects have data on target number of service users. If we have data on actual numbers, we will use them. If the project only has data for targets, we will use target numbers. This calculation is based on the variables "Service and beneficiaries - Targeted number of unique service users or beneficiaries" and "Service and beneficiaries - Actual number of unique service users or beneficiaries". In future we propose to report on these figures separately.

Capital raised

The final figure of capital raised is based on the variables "Total Investment Commitment - Exact Amount in USD" (for the global landscape) and "Total Investment Commitment - Exact Amount in relevant currency" (for the UK landscape). This figure is calculated using only data that are publicly available.

Source: GO Lab INDIGO Impact Bond Dataset, 7 December, 2023.

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