diff --git a/.chloggen/rm-copies-deltatorateprocessor.yaml b/.chloggen/rm-copies-deltatorateprocessor.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..5e26c4fbcb51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.chloggen/rm-copies-deltatorateprocessor.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Use this changelog template to create an entry for release notes.
+
+# One of 'breaking', 'deprecation', 'new_component', 'enhancement', 'bug_fix'
+change_type: 'enhancement'
+
+# The name of the component, or a single word describing the area of concern, (e.g. filelogreceiver)
+component: deltatorateprocessor
+
+# A brief description of the change.  Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
+note: Remove unnecessary data copies.
+
+# Mandatory: One or more tracking issues related to the change. You can use the PR number here if no issue exists.
+issues: [35165]
+
+# If your change doesn't affect end users or the exported elements of any package,
+# you should instead start your pull request title with [chore] or use the "Skip Changelog" label.
+# Optional: The change log or logs in which this entry should be included.
+# e.g. '[user]' or '[user, api]'
+# Include 'user' if the change is relevant to end users.
+# Include 'api' if there is a change to a library API.
+# Default: '[user]'
+change_logs: [user]
diff --git a/processor/deltatorateprocessor/processor.go b/processor/deltatorateprocessor/processor.go
index 8da2382ef0ee..a9ba3aca4697 100644
--- a/processor/deltatorateprocessor/processor.go
+++ b/processor/deltatorateprocessor/processor.go
@@ -55,33 +55,26 @@ func (dtrp *deltaToRateProcessor) processMetrics(_ context.Context, md pmetric.M
 					dtrp.logger.Info(fmt.Sprintf("Configured metric for rate calculation %s is not a delta sum\n", metric.Name()))
 					continue
 				}
-				newDoubleDataPointSlice := pmetric.NewNumberDataPointSlice()
-				dataPoints := metric.Sum().DataPoints()
+				dataPointSlice := metric.Sum().DataPoints()
 
-				for i := 0; i < dataPoints.Len(); i++ {
-					fromDataPoint := dataPoints.At(i)
-					newDp := newDoubleDataPointSlice.AppendEmpty()
-					fromDataPoint.CopyTo(newDp)
+				for i := 0; i < dataPointSlice.Len(); i++ {
+					dataPoint := dataPointSlice.At(i)
 
-					durationNanos := time.Duration(fromDataPoint.Timestamp() - fromDataPoint.StartTimestamp())
+					durationNanos := time.Duration(dataPoint.Timestamp() - dataPoint.StartTimestamp())
 					var rate float64
-					switch fromDataPoint.ValueType() {
+					switch dataPoint.ValueType() {
 					case pmetric.NumberDataPointValueTypeDouble:
-						rate = calculateRate(fromDataPoint.DoubleValue(), durationNanos)
+						rate = calculateRate(dataPoint.DoubleValue(), durationNanos)
 					case pmetric.NumberDataPointValueTypeInt:
-						rate = calculateRate(float64(fromDataPoint.IntValue()), durationNanos)
+						rate = calculateRate(float64(dataPoint.IntValue()), durationNanos)
 					default:
-						return md, consumererror.NewPermanent(fmt.Errorf("invalid data point type:%d", fromDataPoint.ValueType()))
+						return md, consumererror.NewPermanent(fmt.Errorf("invalid data point type:%d", dataPoint.ValueType()))
 					}
-					newDp.SetDoubleValue(rate)
+					dataPoint.SetDoubleValue(rate)
 				}
 
-				dps := metric.SetEmptyGauge().DataPoints()
-				dps.EnsureCapacity(newDoubleDataPointSlice.Len())
-				for d := 0; d < newDoubleDataPointSlice.Len(); d++ {
-					dp := dps.AppendEmpty()
-					newDoubleDataPointSlice.At(d).CopyTo(dp)
-				}
+				// Setting the data type removed all the data points, so we must move them back to the metric.
+				dataPointSlice.MoveAndAppendTo(metric.SetEmptyGauge().DataPoints())
 			}
 		}
 	}