S'pore 3rd most generous country in 2023, based on helping strangers, donating & volunteering

Singapore is the third most generous country in the world, according to a report released by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) on Aug. 22.

The country placed among the top three in the World Giving Index (WGI) 2024, just behind Indonesia and Kenya.

A total of 145,702 people from 142 countries were surveyed.

They were posed three questions, asking if they had volunteered, donated to a charity, or helped a stranger in need within the past month.

Positive responses were then averaged out and calculated to produce an overall index score.

How we fared compared to others

Singapore emerged fifth in the world for charity donations, with 68 per cent of respondents indicating that they had donated money in the past month.

75 per cent of respondents said they had helped a stranger and 40 per cent said they had volunteered.

Although we did not place in the top 10 for these two categories, Singapore still fared pretty well overall with an index score of 61.

For reference, Indonesia, which has occupied the top spot for seven years straight, got an index score of 74, while Kenya came in second with a score of 63.

Our neighbour Malaysia came in 20th with a score of 50.

Cambodia, Japan, and Poland were at the bottom of the rankings, scoring 22, 20, and 15 respectively.

Here is the full list of the rankings and scores:

"Biggest riser"

Singapore was singled out as one of the "biggest risers", as we gained 12 index points from the year before.

In 2023, 55 per cent of Singaporean respondents said they had donated to charity, while 67 per cent said they had helped a stranger and 24 per cent said they had volunteered.

The 2024 results saw the country entering the top 10 for only the second time ever, having been on an upward trend since 2018.

"In 2023, the country recorded its highest ever scores for donating money and helping a stranger, in addition to achieving the largest increase in volunteering seen in this year’s data," read the report.

Greece and The Philippines preceded us by gaining 15 and 13 points respectively.

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Top image via KL Health