GIVING COUNTRIES

SRI LANKA

Following a 26 year civil war that ended in 2009, Sri Lanka’s rankings

have risen rapidly. It ranks 3rd in volunteering time and

17th in donating money.

UNITED KINGDOM

Ranked 4th when it comes to donating money, the UK fares better

than its European counterparts in the area of helping strangers (24th)

MALAYSIA

Following Typhoon Haiyan which impacted the nearby Philippines,

Malaysia had one of the largest generosity growth spurts of any

country on this list. It went from 71st all the way to 6th. Probably

due to a desire to respond to the disaster, Malaysia is now ranked

10th in time spent volunteering, 15th in donating money and

19th in helping strangers.

AUSTRALIA

Always a top contender, Australia ranked 10th for donating money,

12th for helping strangers, and 16th for volunteering time.

NEW ZEALAND

5th in volunteering time, 7th in helping strangers, and 13th when it

comes to donating money, together with Australia, New Zealand

makes Oceania the most generous continent.

IRELAND

Coming in at 4th for donating money and 10th for volunteering time,

it pretty much leads Europe in the helping strangers department (15th).

CANADA

Ranked 6th for donating money and 5th for volunteering time,

Canada almost breaks the top 10 for all three categories

but comes in 11th for helping strangers.

UNITED STATES AND BURMA (MYANMAR)

That’s right, first place is a tie. Where Canada failed, the United States

 succeeded and is therefore the only country to break the top 10

in all three categories. In helping strangers it’s 1st, in volunteering

time it’s 5th, and in donating money it’s 9th. Burma (Myanmar)

ranked 1st in donating money, 2nd in volunteering time, but really

took a hit when it comes to helping strangers (63rd).

Perhaps seeing Burma ranked so high comes as a surprise

 but the reasoning is the same as for Thailand. Due to one of the

highest proportional Buddhist monk populations in the world,

the index may be slightly skewed due to the monks receiving

their regular donations from lay people.