With €66.8 billion in official development assistance (ODA) in 2020, the EU, its Member States, and the EIB have retained their position as the world’s largest donor, according to preliminary data from the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC), published on 13 April (see EUROPE 12697/7).
This is an increase of 15% in nominal terms, representing 0.50% of cumulative GNI (compared to 0.31% for the average of the 29 DAC countries) and 46% of the USD 161.2 billion allocated by rich countries last year.
The European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, was proud of this.
“Team Europe has significantly increased its contribution to official development assistance compared to last year. This is crucial at a time when many people in our partner countries are facing serious health, economic and social difficulties linked to the Covid-19 crisis”, she said. She also confirmed the determination “more than ever” to reach the target of 0.7% of GNI by 2030.
Last year, four out of the six DAC countries that met or bettered the 0.7% target were EU Member States: Sweden (1.14%), Luxembourg (1.02%), Denmark (0.73%) and Germany (0.73%).
In response to the pandemic, Team Europe has mobilised more than €40 billion for EU partner countries.
Overall, European Commission and EIB ODA increased by €3.7 billion (27%) in nominal terms. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)