Americans Are the Most Generous People in the World, Study Says

The people of the United States are the most generous in the world, followed by those in Myanmar and New Zealand, according to a new 10-year study of data from 128 countries.

However, the report showed a recent downward trend in donations from the United States, Canada, and Britain. The report cited the 2017 tax law as one possible reason for the decline in the share of people in the United States who give money.

The least generous countries were China, Greece, and Yemen.

The latest World Giving Index report, produced by the Charities Aid Foundation, marks the 10th year of the report. Instead of presenting annual data as usual, the new report presents aggregate numbers for 2009 to 2018. The research was conducted by Gallup, which surveyed individuals in each country.

The report measures three forms of charitable behavior: Individuals indicate whether they have donated money, volunteered, or helped a stranger in the past month. An overall generosity rating for each country was produced by aggregating those three measurements.

The 10-year results showed that 72 percent of Americans helped a stranger, 61 percent gave money, and 42 percent volunteered their time.

Other findings:

• Of the 10 nations that showed the biggest increase in their overall generosity score, half were from Asia, with Indonesia at the top of list. It was followed by Kenya, Singapore, Malaysia, and Iraq. The nations that declined the most were Morocco, Afghanistan, and Cambodia.
• Liberia ranked highest when it came to helping a stranger, at 77 percent. The United States ranked third, at 72 percent. Japan and Cambodia ranked lowest, at 24%.
• Myanmar ranked highest in terms of the share of people who donated money, at 81 percent. The United States was 11th, at 61 percent. Georgia and Yemen ranked lowest, at 6 percent.
• Sri Lanka ranked highest in volunteering, at 46 percent. The United States ranked fifth at 42 percent. China, Bulgaria, and Yemen ranked lowest at 5 percent each.
• New Zealand was the only country to make the top 10 in all three measures during all of the years studied.

Dan Parks is the managing editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy.