Press Release: Commissioner Piebalgs calls for EU to maintain its leadership on official development aid as new figures reveal it spent a record €53.8 billion in 2010

The Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs has presented the 2010 preliminary figures on official development aid spent by the EU and its 27 Member States. Aid rose by about €4.5 billion from 2009, reaching a total of €53.8 billion, which confirms the EU's position as the largest and most generous donor of official development assistance, providing more than half of global official aid.

Although the EU missed its target for 2010, it still made positive progress despite the economic downturn. Three of the five largest donors worldwide are EU members and four of them have already reached the 0.7% target. Overall, EU aid represents 0.43% of EU Gross National Income. A substantial collective effort is still needed in order to achieve the goal of 0.7% by 2015, to which Member States have been committed.

European Commission: Memo/11/221: Publication of preliminary data on Official Development Assistance 2010 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/11/221&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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