- Policy
- ODA allocation overview
- ODA to and through the multilateral system
- Bilateral ODA
- Geographic, sectoral and thematic focus of ODA
- Private sector instruments
- Mobilised private finance
- Total Official Support for Sustainable Development
- Institutional set-up
- Quality and oversight
- Other profiles
- Additional resources
Development Co‑operation Profiles: European Union institutions
Table of contents
The European Union (EU) – EU institutions and member states together1 – accounts for the largest share of total official development assistance (ODA) among Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members. It has a development co-operation presence in all regions and across all sectors. The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) manage funding among the EU institutions. The European External Action Service co-ordinates foreign policy. The EU institutions’ total ODA decreased in 2024 to USD 27.7 billion (preliminary data).
This profile presents verified data on development assistance allocation. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
In 2017, the European Union and its member states adopted the New European Consensus for Development as a common strategic vision. The European Commission aims to be “geopolitical” and better align external and internal policies. While active across all regions and sectors, co-operation priorities include partnerships with Africa and the European neighbourhood, the European Green Deal, sustainable growth, migration, governance, and promoting the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. The Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 has established new instruments, including the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe, which has earmarked EUR 79.5 billion for co-operation for 2021-27. The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance III incentivises political and economic reforms. The Global Gateway describes the joint EU approach aiming to build connectivity partnerships around the world; reduce the worldwide investment disparity; boost smart, clean and secure connections in digital, energy and transport sectors; and strengthen health, education and research systems.
The European Union places a renewed importance on the multilateral system with the 2021 Joint Communication on strengthening the European Union’s contribution to rules-based multilateralism. At the international level, it plays an important convening and leadership role in advocating for sustainable development. In 2022, the European Commission presented an EU Global Health Strategy. The European Union is a leader in promoting policy coherence for sustainable development and supports coherence across member states. The 2021 Better Regulation initiative also requires impact assessments to consider the impact of EU regulation on developing countries.
The 2022 OECD-DAC mid-term review praised the EU institutions’ major reform for establishing a range of new instruments with robust results frameworks and a focus on climate change, gender and poverty. The review also commended efforts to work closely with member states in organising a strong COVID response, including with “Team Europe”, and noted the important role the European Union plays in supporting policy coherence for sustainable development. The EU institutions could make further progress in addressing cumbersome procedures and pursuing a more coherent financial architecture. The review noted the structural challenges in increasing resources to least developed countries (LDCs). The European Union is being peer reviewed in 2025. Discover insights from the European Union’s 2018 Peer Review and 2022 mid-term review, and learn from the European Union’s practices in Development Co-operation Tools Insights Practices (TIPs). The 2025 Peer Review of the European Union will be available in January 2026.
The EU institutions provided USD 27.7 billion (preliminary data) of ODA in 2024 (USD 26.9 billion in constant terms).2 This is equal to the ODA volume provided in 2023. This marks the third year of increases in ODA volume, partly explained by the unprecedented support to Ukraine. The EU institutions and member states have committed to collectively achieve a 0.7% ODA/GNI ratio by 2030. Within the EU institutions’ ODA portfolio in 2023, 43.9% was provided in the form of grants and 56.1% in the form of non-grants.3
The EU institutions rank 33rd among all DAC members in terms of ODA volume as a grant equivalent. The EU institutions provide almost exclusively bilateral aid and stand out for their high share of country programmable aid, which represents 81% of its gross bilateral ODA. They allocated to 60.8% of gross bilateral ODA to ODA-eligible countries in Europe (of which 84.4% was for Ukraine). In 2022, the European Union’s top 10 recipients received 61.9% of gross bilateral disbursements.
The EU institutions have committed to several international targets and DAC standards and recommendations. Learn more about DAC Recommendations.
Note: This table only includes information about ODA data-related DAC Recommendations. ODA: official development assistance; DAC: Development Assistance Committee.
The EU institutions provided most of their ODA bilaterally in 2023. Gross bilateral ODA was 99.8% of total ODA disbursements. Fifteen per cent of gross bilateral ODA was channelled through multilateral organisations (earmarked contributions).
In 2023, the EU institutions provided USD 6.1 billion of gross ODA to the multilateral system, a fall of 12.6% in real terms from 2022. Of this, USD 88.1 million was core multilateral ODA (0.2% of total ODA), while USD 6 billion was non-core contributions earmarked for a specific country, region, theme or purpose. Project-type funding earmarked for a specific theme and/or country accounted for 83.5% of the EU institutions’ non-core contributions and 16.5% was programmatic funding (to pooled funds and specific-purpose programmes and funds). To note that earmarked contributions to EU institutions mainly refer to EC and EDF funding to the EIB for specific programmes, funds, projects and technical assistance and could therefore be understood as a bilateral channel of delivery
The United Nations (UN) system received 50.8% of the EU institutions’ contributions to multilateral organisations, of which USD 3.1 billion (99.8%) were earmarked contributions. Out of a total volume of USD 3.1 billion to the UN system, the top three UN recipients of the EU institutions’ support (core and earmarked contributions) were the World Food Programme (USD 566.2 million), the United Nations Children’s Fund (USD 401.3 million) and the International Organization for Migration (USD 343.5 million).
See the section on Geographic, sectoral and thematic focus of ODA for the breakdown of bilateral allocations, including ODA earmarked through the multilateral development system.
Learn more by exploring the dashboard on DAC members’ use of the multilateral system.
In 2023, the EU institutions’ bilateral spending increased compared to the previous year. They provided USD 40.1 billion of gross bilateral ODA (which includes earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations). This represented an increase of 20.5% in real terms from 2022.
In 2023, country programmable aid amounted to USD 32.8 billion, or 81.8% of the EU institutions’ gross bilateral ODA, compared to the DAC country average (excluding the EU institutions) of 43.1%.
The EU institutions disbursed USD 33.7 million for triangular co-operation in 2023 and have a strategy guiding their approach. The regional priority is Latin America and Caribbean, with a focus on general environmental protection. Learn more about triangular co-operation.
In 2023, the EU institutions channelled their bilateral ODA mainly through public sector. Technical co-operation made up 5.8% of gross ODA in 2023.
In 2023, civil society organisations (CSOs) received USD 2.7 billion of gross bilateral ODA, of which 13.9% was directed to developing country-based CSOs. Overall, no gross bilateral ODA was allocated to CSOs as core contributions and 6.8% was channelled through CSOs to implement projects initiated by the donor (earmarked funding). From 2022 to 2023, the combined core and earmarked contributions for CSOs decreased as a share of bilateral ODA, from 8.5% to 6.8%. Learn more about the DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid.
In 2023, the EU institutions’ bilateral ODA primarily focused on ODA-eligible countries in Europe. USD 24.4 billion was allocated to ODA-eligible countries in Europe (of which 84.4% was for Ukraine) and USD 6.3 billion to countries in Africa, accounting respectively for 60.8% and 15.8% of gross bilateral ODA. USD 2.3 billion was allocated to Asia (excluding the Middle East). Africa was also the main regional recipient of the EU institutions’ earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, in line with the policy priorities of the overall and multilateral strategy.
In 2023, 61.9% of gross bilateral ODA went to the EU institutions’ top 10 recipients. Their top 10 recipients are mainly in their Eastern and Southern neighbourhood, in line with the focus on the immediate neighbourhood and policy priorities. Ukraine was by far the top recipient. The share of gross bilateral ODA not allocated by country was 17.3%.
In 2023, least developed countries (LDCs) received 10.6% of the EU institutions’ gross bilateral ODA (USD 4.3 billion). The EU institutions allocated the highest share of gross bilateral ODA (58.3%) to lower middle-income countries (LMICs) in 2023, noting that 17.3% was unallocated by income group. Additionally, the EU institutions allocated 7.3% of gross bilateral ODA to land-locked developing countries in 2023, equal to USD 2.9 billion. The EU institutions allocated 1% of gross bilateral ODA to small island developing states in 2023, equal to USD 384.1 million.
Looking at the distribution of the EU institutions’ ODA in relation to “ODA per person in extreme poverty”,4 the amount was USD 5.7 per person in LDCs, USD 38.1 in LMICs and USD 46.8 in upper middle-income countries (UMICs).
In 2024, the EU institutions provided USD 19 billion of net bilateral ODA to Ukraine to respond to the impacts of Russia’s full-scale invasion, a 10.2% decrease from 2023 in real terms. USD 371.6 million of the amount was humanitarian assistance in 2024, a 19.4% decrease from 2023.
Support to contexts with high and extreme fragility was USD 6 billion in 2023, representing 14.9% of the EU institutions’ gross bilateral ODA. Thirty-one per cent of this ODA was provided in the form of humanitarian assistance, an increase from 29.6% in 2022, while 17.9% was allocated to peace, an increase from 15.1% in 2022. Six per cent of gross bilateral ODA went to conflict prevention, a subset of contributions to peace, representing an increase from 5.2% in 2022. Learn more about the OECD States of Fragility platform.
In 2023, more than half of the EU institutions’ bilateral ODA was allocated to other macro sectors. Investments in this area accounted for 51.4% of bilateral ODA commitments (USD 21.8 billion), with a strong focus on general budget support (USD 21.3 billion), administrative costs of donors (USD 1 billion) and development food assistance (USD 15.2 million). The high percentage of general budget support is due to the fact that Macro Financial Assistance to Ukraine is assimilated to General Budget Support. ODA for social infrastructure and services totalled USD 9.8 billion, with a focus on government and civil society (USD 4 billion). Economic infrastructure and services amounted to USD 4.1 billion (9.7% of bilateral ODA). Earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations focused on social sectors and economic sectors in 2023.
In the period 2022-23, the EU institutions committed 58.8% of screened bilateral allocable ODA to gender equality and women’s empowerment, compared to 60.4% in 2020-215 and a 2022-23 DAC average of 45.8%. This is equal to USD 13.6 billion of screened bilateral allocable ODA in support of gender equality on average per year. In addition:
The share of screened bilateral allocable ODA committed to gender equality and women’s empowerment as a principal objective was 2% in 2022-23, compared with the DAC average of 4%.
The EU institutions include gender equality objectives in 12.8% of ODA for humanitarian aid, below the 2022-23 DAC average of 19.1%.
The EU institutions screen virtually all bilateral allocable ODA activities against the DAC gender equality policy marker (100% in 2022-23).
The EU institutions committed USD 88 million of ODA to end violence against women and girls and USD 104.4 million to support women’s rights organisations and movements, and government institutions on average in 2022-23.
Learn more about the DAC Recommendation on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of All Women and Girls in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Assistance and the DAC Recommendation on Ending Sexual Exploitation in Development Co-operation, and by exploring the dashboard on DAC members’ development finance for gender equality.
In 2022-23, the EU institutions committed 35% of their total bilateral allocable ODA (USD 8.1 billion) in support of the environment and the Rio Conventions, up from 26.7% in 2020-21. The DAC average was 39% in 2022-23. In addition:
Eleven per cent of screened bilateral allocable ODA focused on environmental issues as a principal objective, compared with the DAC average of 9.6%.
Thirty-one per cent of total bilateral allocable ODA (USD 7.2 billion) focused on climate change overall, up from 23.2% in 2020-21 (the DAC average was 34.8%). The EU institutions had a similar focus on mitigation (24.8%) and adaptation (24%) in 2022-23.
Nine per cent of screened bilateral allocable ODA (USD 2 billion) focused on biodiversity overall, up from 6.9% in 2020-21 (the DAC average was 7.6%).
Learn more about the DAC Declaration on Aligning Development Co-operation with the Goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Note: Individual Rio Markers should not be added up as this can result in double counting.
The OECD’s tracking of ODA for the sustainable ocean economy shows that the EU institutions committed USD 415.9 million in support of the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean in 2023, USD 132 million more than in 2022. The 2023 value is equivalent to 2% of the EU institutions’ bilateral allocable ODA.
In 2023, the EU institutions:
Allocated 3.9% of their bilateral ODA (USD 1.6 billion) to core poverty-reducing sectors as defined by Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1.a.1. This indicator captures grants to basic social services (such as basic health and education, water supply and sanitation) and development food aid. A further 1.6% of bilateral ODA (USD 624.8 million) went to social protection support.
Committed USD 1.2 billion (5.8% of their bilateral allocable ODA) to address the immediate or underlying determinants of malnutrition in developing countries across a variety of sectors, such as agriculture, forestry, fishing, health and other multisector.
Committed USD 5.8 billion (28% of their bilateral allocable ODA) to development co-operation projects and programmes that promote the inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities.
Committed USD 18.2 million (0.1% of their bilateral allocable ODA) to the mobilisation of domestic resources in developing countries. Regarding the payment of local tax and customs duties for ODA-funded goods and services, the EU institutions generally seek exemptions. They do not have a general policy and make information available on the OECD Digital Transparency Hub on the Tax Treatment of ODA.
Committed USD 5.9 billion (28.5% of their bilateral allocable ODA) to promote aid for trade and improve developing countries’ trade performance and integration into the world economy in 2023.
To build markets in developing countries and incentivise greater mobilisation of private resources for development, many providers, including the EU institutions, have established development finance institutions (DFIs) and similar vehicles that extend private sector instruments (PSI).
In 2023, the EU institutions’ PSI vehicle, the EIB, extended USD 1.9 billion in the form of PSI to developing countries.6 Of this, loans accounted for 86% whereas equities accounted for 14%.
The EIB does not account for their PSI support as ODA as of 2023.
In 2023, USD 91.6 million (4.9%) of the EU institutions’ PSI were allocated to LDCs and other low‑income countries (LICs), with a majority (48.4%) allocated to middle-income countries and UMICs in particular (34.8%). USD 865.7 million was unallocated by income. EU institutions’ PSI primarily supported projects in the banking and financial services (54.8%) and energy (30.4%) sectors.
The EU institutions use leveraging mechanisms to mobilise private finance for sustainable development. In 2023, the EU institutions’ European Commission and EIB mobilised USD 6.4 billion from the private sector through shares in collective investment vehicles, credit lines, syndicated loans, guarantees, direct investment in companies, and special purpose vehicles and simple co-financing. This constituted a 6.8% decrease compared to 2022.
Private finance mobilised by the EU institutions in 2022-23 mainly targeted middle-income countries, representing 42.5% of its total mobilised. Only 5.2% of total mobilised private finance during this period benefited LDCs and other LICs, noting that 52.3% was unallocated by income.
Mobilised private finance by the EU institutions in 2022-23 related mainly to activities in banking and financial services (33.8%) as its top sector. Furthermore, over this period, 39.9% of the EU institutions’ total mobilised private finance was for climate action.
Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD) is an international statistical standard that monitors and increases transparency of all official and officially supported resources for financing the SDGs in developing countries, as well as for addressing global challenges. In 2023, activities reported by the EU institutions as TOSSD totalled USD 59.1 billion, up from USD 50.8 billion in 2022. The EU institutions’ TOSSD activities mostly targeted SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals), SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) and SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth). Activity-level data on TOSSD by recipient are available at: https://tossd.online.
The EU institutions are comprised of two main actors: the European Commission (responsible for managing the majority of funds) and the EIB. Within the European Commission, four Directorate-Generals are involved in development co-operation:
The Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) is in charge of formulating the European Union’s overall international co-operation and development policy. This covers co‑operation with sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Directorate-General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf (DG MENA) is the Commission’s entry point for all countries in these three regions.
The Directorate-General for Enlargement and the Eastern Neighbourhood (DG ENEST) takes forward the European Union’s Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood policies.
The Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) is responsible for humanitarian assistance.
The EIB operates with its own resources and through specific Commission mandates with EU development funds.
The European External Action Service (EEAS) co-ordinates the European Union’s foreign policy, participates in co-operation programming and manages the EU delegations.
To co-ordinate their actions, all EU institutions as well as EU member states have signed “The New European Consensus on Development” and are working together as “Team Europe”.
DG INTPA has 3 600 staff, 1 250 (34.7%) of which are based in Brussels and 2 350 (65.3%) of which are in delegations in non-EU countries. DG ECHO has 900 staff, half of which are based in Brussels with the other half in 45 offices abroad. DG NEAR has 1 500 staff. The EEAS has 2 000 (46.5%) staff in Brussels and 2 300 (53.5%) in EU delegations globally.
Public consultations on policy initiatives are a key mechanism for consulting stakeholders. The European Economic and Social Committee provides opinions on the European Union’s external relations. The Global Gateway Forum is a large regular forum that aims to bring together stakeholders across the world to discuss challenges for sustainable and resilient global partnerships. CSOs active in development co‑operation and global citizenship education co-ordinate under the umbrella body CONCORD and those for humanitarian assistance through the organisation VOICE.
Internal systems and processes help ensure the effective delivery of the EU institutions’ development co‑operation. Select features are shown in the table below.
Access the full list of providers at this link: Development Co-operation Profiles.
2018 OECD-DAC Peer Review of the European Union: https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264309494-en
European Commission, International Partnerships: https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships
European Commission, Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf: https://commission.europa.eu/about/departments-and-executive-agencies/middle-east-north-africa-and-gulf_en
European Commission, Enlargement and the Eastern Neighbourhood: https://commission.europa.eu/about/departments-and-executive-agencies/enlargement-and-eastern-neighbourhood_en
European Commission, European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations: https://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en
European External Action Service: https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en
European Investment Bank (EIB): https://www.eib.org/en/index.htm
CSO umbrella organisation Concord – European Confederation of Relief and Development NGOs: https://concordeurope.org
CSO umbrella organisation VOICE – Voluntary Organisations in Cooperation in Emergencies: https://voiceeu.org
The EU institutions have been a member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) since 1961.
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including the grant-equivalent methodology, core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, country programmable aid, channels of delivery, bilateral ODA unspecified/unallocated, bilateral allocable ODA, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.
This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Member countries of the OECD.
This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.
Note by the Republic of Türkiye
The information in this document with reference to “Cyprus” relates to the southern part of the Island. There is no single authority representing both Turkish and Greek Cypriot people on the Island. Türkiye recognises the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Until a lasting and equitable solution is found within the context of the United Nations, Türkiye shall preserve its position concerning the “Cyprus issue”.
Note by all the European Union Member States of the OECD and the European Union
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← 1. This profile focuses on allocations by the EU institutions on the basis of contributions by EU Member States. Information about the EU Member States’ development co-operation policy, allocations and organisational structure is available in their individual profiles.
← 2. DAC members adopted the grant-equivalent methodology starting from their reporting of 2018 data as a more accurate way to count the donor effort in development loans. See the methodological notes for further details.
← 3. Non-grants include sovereign loans, multilateral loans, equity investment and loans to the private sector.
← 4. Aid per person in extreme poverty is calculated by dividing net ODA (bilateral and imputed multilateral) by the population in extreme poverty in each country. Group averages are calculated based on a weighted average of aid per person in extreme poverty and the number of people in extreme poverty for each country in the group. For more information on this indicator, please see here.
← 5. The use of the recommended minimum criteria for the marker by some members in recent years can result in lower levels of ODA reported as being focused on gender equality.
← 6. In 2023, the DAC agreed on revised reporting methods for measuring PSI in ODA based on ODA grant equivalents. Members may, however, take up to two years to transition to the new methods, with their PSI continuing to be accounted for on a net ODA basis during the transition period.