In 2024, the EU and its member states spent nearly €90 billion on development aid in a single year.

Omissions

• The 2024 figure (EUR 88.7 billion) represents a decline from the 2023 level of EUR 95.9 billion, as reported by the Council in 2024; the speaker presents only the 2024 figure without noting this downward trend.
• The EU collective ODA figure aggregates the EU institutions' aid with that of the 27 Member States; it is not solely EU budget spending.
• Part of the reported ODA has been criticised (e.g. by CONCORD AidWatch) as 'inflated' — including in-donor refugee costs and loans — which affects the headline figure's development impact.

Sources

• PrimaryCouncil of the European Union – COM(2025) 74 / ST-16386-2025-INIT (2025 report on EU ODA)In 2024, the EU and its Member States collectively remained the largest provider of official development assistance (ODA) with EUR 88.7 billion...
• PrimaryCouncil of the European Union – press release on EU ODA (2023 figures)In its report, the Council notes that in 2023, EU collective ODA reached EUR 95.9 billion, up from EUR 93.3 billion in 2022 and EUR 71.6 billion...