World's 10 Most Generous Countries

The top ten countries on the World Giving Index, determined by a worldwide poll of three factors: helping a stranger, donating money, and volunteering.
A study by the Charities Aid Foundation: http://bit.ly/2dFnEN7

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Video by Bryce Plank
Visualization by Robin West

Music:
"Undeniable" by Vibe Tracks (YouTube audio library)

Script:
The world is becoming more generous. That’s the good news coming out of the most recent world giving index, an annual study by the Charities Aid Foundation that provides insight into the scope and nature of giving around the world.

The research firm Gallup asked people from 140 countries around the world whether they had done these charitable activities in the past month: helping a stranger; donating money to a charity; and volunteering time to an organization.

Each country is given a percentage score and ranked. These are the top 10 most generous countries.

Number 10 is the United Arab Emirates. It jumped up from fourteenth to tenth thanks to its people’s willingness to help strangers. Its fifth place ranking in that category is the highest of any country in the overall top 10, and buoys its overall score after the UAE had the least amount of people on this list spend time volunteering.

Next is Ireland, it’s score is down three percentage points and is hurt by the second-worst helping strangers score on the top 10. This decline comes as Ireland’s economy is the fastest growing in Europe for the fourth straight year.

Eighth is the United Kingdom. It’s people rank as the seventh most generous at giving their money away, down four percent from its five-year average. However, its volunteering time is up three points. It will be interesting to see if behaviors in the UK change as the Brexit situation develops.

Taking the seventh spot is Indonesia. It scores in the top three in both donating money to charity and time spent volunteering. Overall, it leaped up fifteen spots in the rankings. This could have something to do with the survey coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan.

The Canadians come in sixth. Solid across the board, Canada doesn't crack the top ten in any single category--the only country on the list where that's the case. It's best ranking is in donating money, although slightly fewer Canadians did than last year.

Sri Lanka is fifth. Its ranking jumped up four places from its five-year average. It's helping a stranger and donating money scores are both now in the 60's, and its volunteering score is the fourth best in the world.

Fourth is New Zealand. It is top 10 in donating money and volunteering. Oceana, comprised solely of Australia and New Zealand, is a conflict free part of the world which allows its more economically well off people to be more generous with their time and money.

Which brings us to Australia, ranked third on this list. Its overall score is two points higher than its five-year average, helping it rise to the third spot. Like its regional neighbor New Zealand, its highest score is in donating money.

The United States is ranked second. Its average rank of nine across the three categories in the survey is best in the world, and its 61% overall score is the same as its five-year average.

And the number one ranked country on the world giving index - for the third year in a row - is Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Its overall score is largely driven by its 91% donating money score. Its heavily Buddhist population donates regularly to support the country’s monks.

Worldwide, people are more altruistic across all three of the categories in the study.

Separating countries by level of development provides even more insight into the data. We see people in developed places are slightly less likely to help a stranger.

Iraq and Libya are the countries most likely to help a stranger. The greater need amongst the population in these war torn places is encouraging more people to be responsive out of sheer necessity.

Men are more likely to help a stranger than women, and those over 50 years old are the least likely age group to do so.

On the flip side, the oldest among us are the most likely to donate money to charity.

The people of Turkmenistan are the most likely to donate their time, thanks to the widespread practice in that country of people spending their Saturdays volunteering.

Again, men are more likely to volunteer than women, and those over 50 are the least likely age group to volunteer their time.

And lastly, these are the continent-wide scores in each category compared to each other, and their five-year averages.

Thanks for watching.