diff --git a/exporters/otlp/include/opentelemetry/exporters/otlp/otlp_grpc_metric_exporter_options.h b/exporters/otlp/include/opentelemetry/exporters/otlp/otlp_grpc_metric_exporter_options.h
index 3d677c1a08..61828fd49e 100644
--- a/exporters/otlp/include/opentelemetry/exporters/otlp/otlp_grpc_metric_exporter_options.h
+++ b/exporters/otlp/include/opentelemetry/exporters/otlp/otlp_grpc_metric_exporter_options.h
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ struct OtlpGrpcMetricExporterOptions : public OtlpGrpcExporterOptions
 
   // Preferred Aggregation Temporality
   sdk::metrics::AggregationTemporality aggregation_temporality =
-      sdk::metrics::AggregationTemporality::kDelta;
+      sdk::metrics::AggregationTemporality::kCumulative;
 };
 
 }  // namespace otlp
diff --git a/exporters/otlp/include/opentelemetry/exporters/otlp/otlp_http_metric_exporter_options.h b/exporters/otlp/include/opentelemetry/exporters/otlp/otlp_http_metric_exporter_options.h
index 7fbb000a34..140b5b886b 100644
--- a/exporters/otlp/include/opentelemetry/exporters/otlp/otlp_http_metric_exporter_options.h
+++ b/exporters/otlp/include/opentelemetry/exporters/otlp/otlp_http_metric_exporter_options.h
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ struct OtlpHttpMetricExporterOptions
 
   // Preferred Aggregation Temporality
   sdk::metrics::AggregationTemporality aggregation_temporality =
-      sdk::metrics::AggregationTemporality::kDelta;
+      sdk::metrics::AggregationTemporality::kCumulative;
 
 #ifdef ENABLE_ASYNC_EXPORT
   // Concurrent requests
diff --git a/exporters/otlp/test/otlp_http_metric_exporter_test.cc b/exporters/otlp/test/otlp_http_metric_exporter_test.cc
index 5dbb4cc2a7..54abb88511 100644
--- a/exporters/otlp/test/otlp_http_metric_exporter_test.cc
+++ b/exporters/otlp/test/otlp_http_metric_exporter_test.cc
@@ -936,6 +936,28 @@ TEST_F(OtlpHttpMetricExporterTestPeer, DefaultEndpoint)
   EXPECT_EQ("http://localhost:4318/v1/metrics", GetOtlpDefaultMetricsEndpoint());
 }
 
+TEST_F(OtlpHttpMetricExporterTestPeer, CheckDefaultTemporality)
+{
+  std::unique_ptr<OtlpHttpMetricExporter> exporter(new OtlpHttpMetricExporter());
+  EXPECT_EQ(
+      opentelemetry::sdk::metrics::AggregationTemporality::kCumulative,
+      exporter->GetAggregationTemporality(opentelemetry::sdk::metrics::InstrumentType::kCounter));
+  EXPECT_EQ(
+      opentelemetry::sdk::metrics::AggregationTemporality::kCumulative,
+      exporter->GetAggregationTemporality(opentelemetry::sdk::metrics::InstrumentType::kHistogram));
+  EXPECT_EQ(opentelemetry::sdk::metrics::AggregationTemporality::kCumulative,
+            exporter->GetAggregationTemporality(
+                opentelemetry::sdk::metrics::InstrumentType::kUpDownCounter));
+  EXPECT_EQ(opentelemetry::sdk::metrics::AggregationTemporality::kCumulative,
+            exporter->GetAggregationTemporality(
+                opentelemetry::sdk::metrics::InstrumentType::kObservableCounter));
+  EXPECT_EQ(opentelemetry::sdk::metrics::AggregationTemporality::kCumulative,
+            exporter->GetAggregationTemporality(
+                opentelemetry::sdk::metrics::InstrumentType::kObservableGauge));
+  EXPECT_EQ(opentelemetry::sdk::metrics::AggregationTemporality::kCumulative,
+            exporter->GetAggregationTemporality(
+                opentelemetry::sdk::metrics::InstrumentType::kObservableUpDownCounter));
+}
 #endif
 
 }  // namespace otlp