UK creeps back into top 10 CAF World Giving Index

The UK is the sixth most generous country in the world when it comes to charitable giving, a new report by the Charities Aid Foundation has revealed.

According to the latest CAF World Giving Index, the UK has climbed back into the top 10 this year, up from 11th position in 2017.

The report, which is based on a survey of 150,000 people from 146 countries around the world, measured how many people have donated to or volunteered for a charity, or helped a stranger in the past month.

This year’s report revealed Indonesia as the most generous country in the world, while Australia, New Zealand and the US fell shortly behind. Ireland and the UK were the only two European countries to make it into the top 10.

Myanmar, which had previously held the top spot since 2015, fell down to ninth place in this year’s rankings. All three of the country’s scores decreased from last year (donating money fell from 91% to 88%; helping a stranger fell from 53% to 40%; and volunteering time is down from 51% to 34%).

The scores for helping a stranger and volunteering are the lowest ever recorded for Myanmar by the CAF World Giving Index, which CAF said was likely to be a result of Myanmar’s people being "less willing or able to give" after the Rohingya crisis peaked in 2017.

The UK score was set back by its volunteer time. According to the survey, 33 per cent had volunteered in the last month. This compares to the 63 per cent that had helped a stranger and 68 per cent that had donated money to charity.

“The levels of generosity we see in countries is truly humbling, particularly when it shows huge support for others in countries which have suffered years of conflict, war or instability. That really demonstrates our shared human values shining through,” said CAF chief executive, Sir John Low.

“This year it is heartening that millions more people helped others and volunteered their time. The global fall in the numbers giving money is a concern, however, as the cumulative effect of the money people give can have an amazing effect.

“Some countries do show some sharp declines in levels of giving, and we will have to look carefully to analyse the possible reasons and determine whether we are seeing short term volatility in the data or the start of a longer term trend. As always, what is important is to take the long view, look beyond the annual peaks and troughs and work towards the upward trend in giving which can make such a difference to the lives of us all.”