The World Giving Index asks people three questions: have they helped a stranger, given money or volunteered for a good cause over the past month.
Around the world, 4.2 billion people helped someone they didn’t know, donated money to a good cause, or volunteered time according to the Charities Aid Foundation’s World Giving Index 2023.
The CAF World Giving Index is one of the biggest surveys on giving ever produced, with millions of people interviewed around the world since 2009. This year’s Index includes data from 142 countries where people were asked three questions: have they helped a stranger, given money or volunteered for a good cause over the past month.
CAF UK, a key network partner of Workplace Giving Australia, has released the latest research into world giving and, for the sixth year in a row, the world’s most generous country is Indonesia. The second most generous country in the world is Ukraine, which is also the Index’s biggest riser this year, increasing its score after ranking tenth last year. Only three of the top 10 countries are among the world’s largest economies (Indonesia, United States, and Canada), while one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world – Liberia – is ranked in fourth highest place.
Australia has dropped ranking, whilst still being a high placing, there has been a drop in the overall ranking from 4th in 2022 to 14th this year due to a slight decrease across each area, however still a high percentage in helping a stranger which is promising. New Zealand also dropped from 5th in 2022 but remains just inside the top 10 countries globally.
The CAF World Giving Index gives us reasons for hopeful optimism at a time of great instability. Generosity is innate to human behaviour and binds us all together as a global community. The diversity of countries leading the index highlights this: they cover the spectrum of wealth and economic development, geography, language, religion and culture. Giving is about building a connection with those around us, whether they are across the street or on the other side of the world. That is why we are calling on governments to do more to encourage those who can, to give the money and time that fosters vibrant, resilient civil society organisations as they face into social and environmental challenges and the impact of conflict and population displacement.
Neil Heslop OBE, Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation
Workplace Giving Australia’s CEO David Mann commented that:
While it is significant that Australia remains a more generous nation than most, it is disappointing to see us fall from 4th place last year to 14th. This report tells us that 9% of Australians feel less able or motivated to donate money than they did in the previous year; simply put, close to 1 in 10 of us have stopped giving. This reflects in part the pressure on cost of living. Equally concerning is that 4% fewer of us helped a stranger and that we even see a small (2%) decrease in those who have volunteered. So, while we are still in the top of nations, the challenges ahead are clear.
Australia ranked at number 14 of 142.
Around the world, 4.2 billion people helped someone they didn’t know, volunteered time or donated money to a good cause.
For the sixth year in a row, the world’s most generous country is Indonesia. The second most generous country in the world is Ukraine, which is also the Index’s biggest riser this year.
While many high-income countries saw a decline in their index score during the pandemic, most returned to the top 10 last year; the United States is in fifth place this year, with Canada in eighth, and New Zealand in tenth.
The UK ranks #3 in the world for donating money but has not appeared in the overall top 10 since 2019. It now ranks in 17th place on the overall index, 10 places lower than it was a decade ago.
People who have a strong religious belief have a higher overall index score on average, except for Europe where it makes no difference.
People who rated their life in positive terms were more likely to have made a gift to charity, with some of the happiest countries in the world ranking in the top 10 for donating money (Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, and Iceland).