European aid: A primer

In 2021, the European Union and its member states provided €70.2 billion ($74.8 billion) in official development assistance — accounting for 43% of the total ODA that year.

Of this, nearly €14.5 billion came from the European Commission — the EU’s main executive body.

The EC oversees ODA mainly through directorates-general. Each directorate-general is roughly equivalent in function to a government department.

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