The amount of foreign aid Japan disbursed in 2004 fell 0.2 percent from the previous year to $8.859 billion on a preliminary basis, keeping it in second place among the world's 22 major foreign aid donors, the OECD's Development Assistance Committee said Monday.

According to the annual list compiled by the the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Japan fell to 20th from 19th in terms of the ratio of official development assistance to gross national product.

Japan's ratio in 2004 came to 0.19 percent, which is far short of the pace it needs to reach its goal of 0.7 percent by 2015. The figure accounted for 0.20 percent in 2003.