According to a survey published by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD, the dollar value of ODA extended by Japan in 1994 amounted to $13.24 billion (excluding aid to the East European countries and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development), the highest in the world for the four consecutive years. Japan's ODA covered a total of more than 150 countries and regions (158 in 1994), and the number of countries for which Japan is the largest donor of ODA rose to 34 (in 1993). Japan's ODA is playing a significant role in the economic and social development of most of the developing countries and has also become an important instrument for the establishment of friendly relations between Japan and those countries.

The percentage of its ODA extended by Japan in 1994 from its Gross National Product (GNP) has reached 0.29% (DAC average 0.29%), a slight improvement from 0.27% in 1993. It is necessary for Japan to strive further to improve this ratio continuously in the coming years.

Japan has been seeking to improve the quality of ODA as well. The ratio of its untied aid - the ratio of aid not tied to suppliers of goods and services of the donor country - stood at 78.8%, sixth among DAC countries. In the case of yen loans, the ratio of general untied aid came to 98.3% in FY 1994, demonstrating that Japan's ODA is the most open in the international community.

Another yardstick to measure the quality of aid is grant share (or the percentage of grant in the total aid). It shows the ratio of the grant element, i.e., grant aid, technical cooperation and contributions to international organisations. Japan's grant share in ODA increased to 52.4% in 1994, up from an average of 43.8% in 1992/93 (the DAC average was 77.1%). Since a large part of Japan's ODA is accounted for by yen loans, its grant share is relatively smaller than those of other donor countries. It should be noted, however, that as the amount of grant aid in absolute terms given by Japan is substantial, the contribution of Japan's ODA to alleviating poverty and to meeting basic human needs (BHN) is by no means small. Grant aid provided by Japan in 1993 amounted to $7.71 billion, the second largest among DAC countries, and in 1994 it increased to $8.98 billion, larger than the $8.45 billion that is the total amount of the ODA of France, the third largest DAC donor country.

Japan's ODA is primarily directed toward the Asian region, with which it has been closely associated historically, geographically, politically and economically. Of the 10 largest recipient countries of Japan's bilateral aid in 1994, eight are located in Asia and this indicates that $5.54 billion or 57.3% of the total bilateral aid was provided to this region. In the past decades however, Japan's stance on foreign aid has been progressively changing from a policy leaning to Asian countries in the 1960s to a diversified and balanced position among all needy countries of the world. Today, Japan's ODA is directed to all needy countries to alleviate poverty and economic difficulties and to meet the specific needs of countries of Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Oceania. As a result, Japan has become a major donor country in all of these regions.

In addition to the efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation, Japan has also been expending a considerable effort to extend aid through international organisations. The result is that the role of Japan in financing aid programmes of international organisations became significant in recent years. For example, Japan has been the largest contributor to international organisations and agencies such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the second largest to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD or the World Bank), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).