Which Countries Give The Most Money To Charity

The World Giving Index (WGI) is an annual report published by the Charities Aid Foundation, using data gathered by Gallup, and ranks over 140 countries in the world according to how charitable they are. The aim of the World Giving Index is to provide insight into the scope and nature of giving around the world. The first edition was released in September 2010.^[1] The most recent edition was published in September 2018, with Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand ranking as the top three. The United States, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Kenya, Myanmar and Bahrain complete the top ten.^[2]

Methodology [edit]

This report is primarily based upon data from the Gallup World Poll, which is an ongoing research project carried out in more than 140 countries that together represent around 95% of the world's adult population (around 5 billion people). In most countries surveyed, 1,000 questionnaires are completed by a representative sample of individuals living across the country. The coverage area is the entire country, including rural areas. The sampling frame represents the entire civilian, non-institutionalised, aged 15 and older population of the entire country. In some large countries such as China and Russia, samples of at least 2,000 are collected, while in a small number of countries, the poll covers 500 to 1,000 people but still features a representative sample. The survey is not conducted in a limited number of instances, including where the safety of interviewing staff is threatened, scarcely populated islands in some countries, and areas that interviewers can reach only by foot, animal, or small boat.^[3]

In all, over 150,000 people were interviewed by Gallup in 2014, and samples are probability-based. Surveys are carried out by telephone or face-to-face depending on the country's telephone coverage.^[4] There is of course a margin of error (the amount of random sampling error) in the results for each country, which is calculated by Gallup around a proportion at the 95% confidence level (the level of confidence that the results are a true reflection of the whole population). The maximum margin of error is calculated assuming a reported percentage of 50% and takes into account the design effect.

Gallup asked people which of the following three charitable acts they had undertaken in the past month:^[4]

helped a stranger, or someone they didn't know who needed help?
donated money to a charity?
volunteered your time to an organisation?

World Giving Index rankings [edit]

Country	2018 rank^[5]	2017 rank^[6]	2016 rank^[7]	2015 rank^[4]	2014 rank^[8]	2013 rank ^[9]
Indonesia	1	2	7	22	13	17
Australia	2	6	3	5	6	7
New Zealand	3	4	4	3	5	2
United States	4	5	2	1	1	1
United Kingdom	5	11	8	6	7	6
Ireland	6	8	9	9	4	5
Singapore	7	30	28	34	n/a	64
Kenya	8	3	12	11	15	33
Myanmar	9	1	1	1	1	2
Bahrain	10	n/a	n/a	13	n/a	n/a
Netherlands	11	10	13	7	12	8
United Arab Emirates	12	9	10	14	n/a	n/a
Norway	13	20	14	15	n/a	11
Canada	14	7	6	4	3	2
Haiti	15	55	53	59	40	28
Nigeria	16	28	56	43	21	20
Iceland	17	15	17	n/a	14	17
Malta	18	13	16	12	16	12
Liberia	19	14	52	25	45	n/a
Sierra Leone	20	12	46	54	55	n/a
Zambia	21	18	63	51	47	45
Germany	22	19	21	20	28	22
Trinidad and Tobago	23	n/a	n/a	n/a	10	n/a
Denmark	24	21	20	39	18	25
Mauritius	25	130	n/a	45	n/a	93
Switzerland	26	33	23	40	n/a	12
Sri Lanka	27	n/a	5	8	9	10
Libya	28	42	44	n/a	n/a	14
Iran	29	17	45	32	19	n/a
Hong Kong	30	25	n/a	26	n/a	17
Gambia	31	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Austria	32	26	30	23	17	15
Kuwait	33	31	19	24	n/a	n/a
Iraq	34	39	31	38	43	89
Cyprus	35	45	35	42	23	24
Tajikistan	36	50	87	73	34	64
Ghana	37	23	77	63	54	61
Israel	38	35	43	75	32	31
Belgium	39	56	32	48	52	57
South Africa	40	24	61	49	34	69
Luxembourg	41	44	49	33	65	28
Sweden	42	34	25	28	40	39
Turkmenistan	43	69	15	71	23	26
Finland	44	37	24	31	25	33
Mongolia	45	29	27	52	32	41
Honduras	46	40	74	60	58	55
Slovenia	47	58	40	37	34	44
South Sudan	48	73	48	68	n/a	n/a
Dominican Republic	49	32	36	41	27	39
Uganda	50	22	26	57	34	48
Saudi Arabia	51	48	41	47	47	57
Nepal	52	51	39	76	44	55
Uzbekistan	53	38	11	27	28	50
Spain	54	71	79	58	62	57
Kyrgyzstan	55	85	34	18	83	73
Jamaica	56	n/a	n/a	21	20	n/a
Malawi	57	36	38	44	56	43
Democratic Republic of the Congo	58	125	136	127	112	131
Paraguay	59	120	101	125	68	45
South Korea	60	62	75	64	60	n/a
Chile	61	49	55	49	50	35
Thailand	61	16	37	19	21	38
Costa Rica	62	43	62	36	34	23
Cameroon	63	68	51	92	58	63
Taiwan	64	52	50	35	47	52
Guatemala	65	41	29	16	25	30
Kosovo	66	65	60	116	50	78
Nicaragua	67	82	76	69	67	82
Italy	68	84	82	72	79	21
Central African Republic	69	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Guinea	70	98	69	80	40	74
Niger	71	118	115	135	102	108
France	72	67	81	74	90	77
Brazil	73	n/a	n/a	61	n/a	n/a
Bangladesh	74	129	94	95	72	89
Jordan	75	74	71	118	99	120
Zimbabwe	76	72	108	87	94	82
Uruguay	77	60	58	77	62	47
Panama	78	57	33	53	46	48
Mozambique	79	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Colombia	80	61	73	66	53	31
Ukraine	81	90	106	89	103	102
Burkina Faso	82	86	72	104	90	109
Portugal	83	104	90	82	78	71
Tanzania	84	63	57	81	87	51
Lebanon	85	76	80	96	65	68
Bolivia	86	70	70	65	57	54
Senegal	87	79	95	85	79	57
Slovakia	88	102	124	123	94	101
Philippines	89	54	47	46	30	16
Bosnia and Herzegovina	90	59	128	88	103	109
Pakistan	91	n/a	92	94	61	53
Algeria	92	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	109
Mali	93	112	99	121	118	123
Argentina	94	83	83	108	77	78
Lesotho	95	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Kazakhstan	96	87	96	56	101	66
Botswana	97	93	54	55	62	84
Ethiopia	98	107	84	97	72	109
Moldova	99	n/a	110	120	96	88
Madagascar	100	133	132	101	110	113
Peru	100	88	65	114	72	84
Chad	101	99	111	136	115	93
Romania	102	80	93	93	108	105
Rwanda	103	101	116	137	110	128
Morocco	104	136	123	126	112	115
Benin	105	113	102	132	103	120
Egypt	106	108	112	112	120	105
Venezuela	107	115	117	128	134	91
Albania	108	95	105	83	85	132
Estonia	109	100	118	99	103	93
Russia	110	124	126	129	126	123
Ivory Coast	111	91	104	107	69	n/a
Poland	112	105	109	78	115	84
Gabon	113	96	89	111	69	78
Mexico	114	106	107	90	85	76
Congo	115	77	136	91	99	93
Montenegro	116	110	133	98	130	126
Togo	117	109	103	133	n/a	n/a
Georgia	118	135	120	112	123	116
Ecuador	119	53	97	131	132	84
Hungary	120	119	134	124	72	78
Belarus	121	117	100	103	83	93
Namibia	122	n/a	n/a	61	n/a	n/a
Armenia	123	122	130	138	124	113
India	124	81	91	106	69	93
Czech Republic	125	128	121	130	112	103
Bulgaria	126	127	129	115	126	118
El Salvador	127	94	85	117	96	107
Japan	128	111	114	102	90	n/a
Serbia	129	132	135	118	124	123
Macedonia	130	64	119	86	72	118
Turkey	131	n/a	n/a	n/a	128	128
Croatia	132	121	127	62	130	133
Mauritania	133	130	88	109	115	93
Laos	134	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	41
Tunisia	135	92	122	139	120	103
Afghanistan	136	89	78	84	79	35
Latvia	137	131	113	110	89	93
Lithuania	138	137	124	142	119	120
Azerbaijan	139	126	131	122	87	69
Cambodia	140	134	98	100	108	93
Palestinian Territory	141	n/a	139	141	133	127
China	142	138	140	144	128	133
Greece	143	114	137	140	120	135
Yemen	144	139	138	143	134	130
Angola	n/a	n/a	n/a	134	96	n/a
Belize	n/a	n/a	n/a	70	n/a	n/a
Bhutan	n/a	n/a	18	17	n/a	n/a
Burundi	n/a	n/a	n/a	145	n/a	n/a
Comoros	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	84
Malaysia	n/a	n/a	22	10	7	71
Northern Cyprus	n/a	46	42	30	39	n/a
Puerto Rico	n/a	n/a	n/a	29	n/a	n/a
Qatar	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	9
Somaliland	n/a	n/a	58	n/a	n/a	26
Sudan	n/a	n/a	n/a	67	n/a	61
Suriname	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	66
Syria	n/a	n/a	66	n/a	30	35
Vietnam	n/a	116	64	79	79	116

"n/a" indicates a country was not surveyed for that year's World Giving Index report

Response to the results (2010) [edit]

The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa hailed the results of the Index where Sri Lanka came in 8th. President Rajapaksa said it captured, "the reality of our caring and sharing society".^[10]

The President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou described the results as "unfair" and stated that Taiwan had transformed itself from an "importer of love to an exporter of love".^[11]

Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector and Senator for New South Wales, Dr Ursula Stephens said, "I see each day the enormous efforts of our country's five million volunteers and witness the generosity of the millions of Australians whose donations make the work of our non profit organisations possible. So this result on the World Giving Index is confirmation of what we already know – we are a country of generous people who are quick to lend a helping hand in times of need."^[12]

The Community and Voluntary Sector Minister in New Zealand, Tariana Turia, said, "The report shows that New Zealanders are particularly generous when it comes to giving money and helping strangers, but also in terms of volunteering. As a nation we must celebrate our generosity and make sure that our decisions and our actions bolster it even further."^[13]

References [edit]

^ "World Giving Index 2010" (PDF). Charities Aid Foundation. September 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
^ "World Giving Index 2018" (PDF). Charities Aid Foundation. September 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
^ Gallup World Poll Methodology, Retrieved 10 November 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c "World Giving Index 2015" (PDF). Charities Aid Foundation. November 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
^ "The World Giving Index 2018" (PDF). Charities Aid Foundation. October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
^ "World Giving Index 2017" (PDF). Charities Aid Foundation. September 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
^ "World Giving Index 2016" (PDF). Charities Aid Foundation. November 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
^ "World Giving Index 2014" (PDF). Charities Aid Foundation. November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
^ "World Giving Index 2013" (PDF). Charities Aid Foundation. December 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
^ Charles Haviland (13 September 2010). "Sri Lankan 'generosity' is hailed". BBC News South Asia. Retrieved 5 January 2018 – via www.bbc.com.
^ "President calls Taiwan's 'World Giving' rank 'unfair'". Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
^ Dr Ursula Stephens "Australia a Nation of Givers and Helpers". Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
^ "Turia Thrilled with Top-Ranking for Generous New Zealanders". Beehive. 9 September 2010. Archived from the original on 14 September 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2018.