Ireland is one of the ten most generous countries in the world, according to a recent survey.
The figures come from the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). They compiled their list by ranking countries based on the percentage of the population that had made a donation to charity within the last month.
The data was gathered by interviewing over 150,000 people from 145 countries across the world.
The results showed that over half of Ireland’s 4.5m population (56%) had either given money to charity, volunteered their time or helped a stranger in the last month.
It makes the Irish the ninth most generous people in the world, and the third most in Europe.
The most generous country in the world was Burma where a highly impressive 92% of people had met at least one of the three criteria in the past month.
The United States were in second place, with New Zealand, Canada and Australia making up the top five.
Chief Executive of the CAF John Low said: “The world is becoming a more generous place. It is heartening to see that, even during these times of economic uncertainty across the world, people are increasingly likely to donate money to causes that help others. It is also hugely encouraging for the future that so much of the increase in giving has been driven by the younger generation.”
The top ten countries in the study were:
1 – Burma
2 – the USA
3 – New Zealand
4 – Canada
5 – Australia
6 – the UK
7 – the Netherlands
8 – Sri Lanka
9 – Ireland
10 – Malaysia
Ireland is one of the ‘world’s most generous countries’