The Charities Aid Foundation(CAF) World Giving Index 2016 reports that more people are helping others than ever before, donating both time and money.

With so many tragedies happening all over the world on a daily basis it’s not surprising that we don’t often hear of all the good that happens. This uplifting report highlights the generosity of the world that is rarely reported in the press and shows that in a time when so many countries are at the centre of a humanitarian crisis, a significant number of people want to help.

The CAF World Giving Index 2016 reports that for the second year running Iraq has the number one position for the percentage of people helping a stranger. This, from a country in a state of civil war, shows another side which perhaps reflects the reality for people living in such conditions. Following the devastating earthquake in 2015, Nepal is shown as one of the most improved countries. As questioned in the report, is this down to the need of the population encouraging people to be more generous? It would seem that a nation in turmoil can also be a nation of great philanthropy.

However, it is not only the nations suffering adversity that share their generosity. Per the report, the UK is ranked 8th in the top 20 countries with 69% of people donating money and 61% helping a stranger. Interestingly only 33% of people in the UK said they had volunteered their time. The UK did, however, move down two places in the ranking from the 2015 report where they were ranked 6th.  The USA have maintained their ranking of 2nd with Australia, Canada and New Zealand all remaining in the top 10 countries.

The report highlights the significance of religion in some of the top- 10 countries. The highest-ranking country of Myanmar has a very high population (around 90%) of practising Buddhists. Of these, 99% follow Theravada Buddhism where followers donate to support those living a monastic lifestyle. The report also notes that in Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates, the survey was taken after the holy month of Ramadan. During this month Muslims are encouraged to donate to charity and so this would have influenced the results of the survey as the rate of giving may have been higher than previous months.

Regardless of the specific reasons for countries being generous, the report gives a great deal of hope for our world and shows that an enormous amount of good happens all over the world every day.

Read the full report here