MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The European Union spent 75.5 billion euros on international aid (about $88.5 billion) in 2016, which represents 0.51 percent of the bloc's gross national income (GNI) and is slightly less than what the European Union committed to spend in 2005, European statistics office Eurostat said Thursday.
"Last year, the European Union (EU) as a whole spent €75.5 billion on Official Development Assistance (ODA). This represents 0.51% of the EU's gross national income (GNI). This means that the EU has still not met its commitment, made in 2005, to spend 0.7% of GNI on Official Development Assistance by 2015," the organization said.
Eurostat noted that the ODA spending has been growing for the fourth year in a row and is the highest to date.
The statistics agency added that non-EU countries that are also members of the Development Assistance Committee gave an average of 0.21 percent of their GNI.
The Development Assistance Committee is a platform within the international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which is used to discuss issues related to aid and poverty reduction.
