In the world for ‘generosity’ Myanmar ranks first, the US second, New Zealand third, Canada fourth and Australia fifth. The fact is revealed according to the World Giving Index released on 10 November.
The next five most generous countries are the UK, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Ireland and Malaysia.
Position of India
India ranks 106th, behind Brazil, and last among eight countries included from South Asia in the survey.
Moreover, the proportion of ‘givers’ in India decreased substantially in 2014 as compared to 2013.
However, India has more people who help strangers (334 million in 2014), donate money (183 million) and volunteer their time for a good cause (156 million) than any other country . This is primarily because of India’s large population.
The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) World Giving Index is a study based on surveys in 145 countries carried out by Gallup. It considers three criteria while drawing up the list.:
- People who help strangers
- People donate money
- People who volunteer their time for a good cause
Still a lot more we must do
Meenakshi Batra, chief executive of CAF India said, “The relatively low proportion of people who are giving their time or money shows there is still a lot more we must do.”
Batra said that wealth in India was predicted to grow significantly in the coming years. “If this is to benefit the entire Indian population through better standards of living rather than simply widening the gap between rich and poor, we must do more to engage people in addressing development gaps,” she added.
This year’s report found that the proportion of people in India donating to charity in 2014 had fallen by eight percent to 20% as compared to that in 2013. There were also fewer Indians who had volunteered or helped a stranger, with 17% of people having volunteered (a drop of four percentage points) and 37% of people having helped a stranger (down two percentage points).
Other Findings
Overall, the report shows that while, at a global level, people have become increasingly likely to donate money to charity or help a stranger, they are less likely to volunteer their time.
The research shows that some of the world’s most generous countries are also among the most deprived. Just five of the World Giving Index top 20 are members of the G20, which represents the world’s largest economies. Fifteen G20 countries are outside the top five, with six of these outside the top 100.
urundi was ranked bottom of the 145 countries in the index with China, Yemen and Lithuania just above them.
Men are more likely to give money than women
For the first time in the six years the World Giving Index has been published, men are now more likely to give money than women.
The report said “Women in developed countries are still more likely to donate, although the gap in giving between the genders has narrowed to the smallest recorded by the Index in the last five years.”