DAC exists to help its members coordinate their development assistance and to encourage the expansion and improve the effectiveness of the aggregate resources flowing to recipient economies. In this capacity DAC monitors the flow of all financial resources, but its main concern is official development assistance (ODA). Grants or loans to countries and territories on the DAC list of aid recipients have to meet three criteria to be counted as ODA. They are provided by official agencies, including state and local governments, or by their executive agencies. They promote economic development and welfare as the main objective. And they are provided on concessional financial terms (loans must have a grant element of at least 25 percent, calculated at a discount rate of 10 percent). The DAC Statistical Reporting Directives provide the most detailed explanation of this definition and all ODA-related rules.

OECD's IDS database provides a set of readily available basic data that enables analysis on where aid goes, what purposes it serves and what policies it aims to implement, on a comparable basis for all DAC members. The aid data is most commonly used to analyze the sectoral and geographical breakdown of aid for selected years and donors or groups of donors. The data can also be used to target specific policy issues (e.g. tying status of aid) and monitor donors' compliance with various international recommendations in the field of development co-operation.
Grants, excluding technical cooperation (current US$)
Grants are defined as legally binding commitments that obligate a specific value of funds available for disbursement for which there is no repayment requirement. Data are in current U.S. dollars.
Grants are transfers made in cash, goods or services for which no repayment is required. Data excludes technical cooperation grants. The flows of official and private financial resources from the members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to developing economies are compiled by DAC, based principally on reporting by DAC members using standard questionnaires issued by the DAC Secretariat. A network of statistical correspondents collects data from aid agencies and government departments (central, state and local) on an ongoing basis. Their task is also to ensure that reporting conforms to the Reporting Directives (definitions and classifications) agreed by the DAC.

The official development assistance (ODA) estimates are published annually at the end of the calendar year in International Development Statistics (IDS) database. Data are in current U.S. dollars.
Grants are defined as legally binding commitments that obligate a specific value of funds available for disbursement for which there is no repayment requirement. Data are in current U.S. dollars.