Most ODA for water is committed by a small number of mainly bilateral donors. Among the 30 donors listed by the OECD (22 bilateral donors and 8 multilateral, the top four donors provided more than 60% of the ODA for water between 2000 and 2004, and the top eight provided more than 80%. Japan is by far the largest donor, providing approximately 25% of overall ODA allocated to the water sector. It thus has a great influence on the evolution of overall ODA for water. The other main donor countries are Germany, France, and the United-States.

Similarly, most ODA for water goes to a relatively small number of recipient countries. Between 2000 and 2004, 43% of ODA commitments for water were allocated to the top-10 recipient countries. China and India, large emerging countries, are among the three main recipient countries. Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa feature little (except for Peru, Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique).

However, if we consider per capita ODA, the figures change completely. The geographical distribution of ODA for water focuses on the countries of North Africa and the Middle East, and on those of Sub-Saharan Africa. (We have taken out of the analysis small countries or islands with less than 10 millions inhabitants.

Top 20 countries with more than 10 millions inhabitant receiving most aid per capita: