The EU and its 27 Member States remains the world biggest donor with €53 billion of development aid in 2011. Although it provided more than half of global official aid during last year, figures also show that EU official aid declined by about €500 million compared to 2010, a drop from 0.44% of GNI in 2010 to 0.42% in 2011.

The preliminary figures on official development aid published by the OECD on the 4 of April revealed that with €53 billion of development aid in 2011, the European Union and its 27 Member States remains the world biggest donor, providing more than half of global official aid. During the World Humanitarian Day, the European Commission announced that the EU was already the world biggest donor. Although 16 Member States managed to increase their aid, three of them are ranked among the five largest donors worldwide and four of them have already reached the target of spending 0.7% of their Gross National Income (GNI) on aid, the European Commission remains that efforts are still needed to reach the agreed target of 0.7% EU GNI by 2015.

The EU Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, stressed that despite the crisis, Europe reaffirms its solidarity with the poorest across the world. He also remains to Member States that development aid is both solidarity and an investment to make the world safer and more prosperous. In 2005, EU Member States pledged to increase Official Development Assistance (ODA) to 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2015 and included an interim target of 0.56% ODA/GNI by 2010.

However, compared to 2010, EU official aid declined by about €500 million, a drop from 0.44% of GNI in 2010 to 0.42% in 2011. This has been based on mixed results in Member States. According to the Commission, four EU Member States (Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) continue to exceed the 0.7% target, with Denmark, Luxembourg and Sweden aiming to reach 1% of GNI. Other Member States are moving towards achieving the 0.7% target, such as the UK, or keeping aid levels above the 2010 target of 0.51% of GNI (Belgium, Finland, Ireland). Germany and Italy have made considerable increases to their aid budgets in 2011. Of the Member States that have joined the EU since 2004, all except one have either raised or maintained their aid levels, with Malta recording the highest growth in the EU.