Korea was ranked the 57th most charitable among 153 nations, according to a recent poll by a British aid group, trailing far behind the top-ranked United States, as well as Asian neighbors Hong Kong and Thailand.
The second annual survey by the Charities Aid Foundation, called the World Giving Index 2011, was complied by questioning people in the surveyed nations on three measures ― volunteering, helping strangers and donating money.
Korea, which had ranked 81st in the same poll last year, ranked 57th in 2011 with 34 percent donating money, 27 percent taking part in volunteer activities and 44 percent helping strangers, the group said.
The global average of the three giving behaviors this year was 32.4 percent, compared to the 31.6 percent in 2010. The index showed a 2 percent increase in the global population helping a stranger and a 1 percent increase in people volunteering. Yet 1 percent fewer people have given money to a charity than in 2010, a result the CAF attributed to the ongoing economic impact of the financial crisis.
Having increased its charity by 3 percentage points this year, up to $212 billion, the U.S. was ranked first, followed by Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Britain and the Netherlands.
Among Asian nations, Sri Lanka was ranked the highest by becoming eighth, followed by Thailand, Laos and Hong Kong.
The study found that the most common giving behavior in 2011 had been helping strangers. Almost half the global population, or 47 percent, helped a stranger in a typical month. In comparison, fewer than three out of ten people donated money (29 percent) or volunteered time (21 percent) each month.
By far the largest increase in the percentage of population donating money was in Asia, with an increase of 9 percent in Southeast Asia and an increase of 10 percent in South Asia.
The study also showed that the most affluent countries weren’t necessarily the most philanthropic. Only five of the countries featured in the World Bank’s top 20 GDP made it to the foundation’s top 20 list.
By Shin Hae-in (
hayney@heraldcorp.com)
