Official development aid spent by the EU in 2010 rose by about 4,5 billion Euros from 2009, reaching a total of 53,8 billion Euros, which confirms the EU's position as the largest donor of official development assistance, providing more than half of global official aid.

In 2005, EU Member States pledged to increase Official Development Assistance (ODA) to 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2015. In 2010, they promised to collectively reach 0.56% of ODA/GNI. No other donors have made such a significant commitment to increasing aid. Nonetheless, budgetary constraints in 2009 weighed heavily on aid and many donors, including several EU Member States, decreased their spending on official development assistance (ODA).

The commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, highlighted that even the figures have increased from 2009, reaching the 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. On the other hand, three of the five largest donors worldwide are EU members - France, Germany and the United Kingdom- and Sweden, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Denmark have already achieved 0.7% target.