UK is the most charitable country in the world

Fundraising | 5 Aug 2009

Brits are the most charitable people in the world, according to a new survey of 10,500 people in 16 countries.

The study, by social enterprise charity UnLtd, took place over three months and aimed to produce a view of international attitudes to global concerns. Amongst the countries that participated were Spain, France, Switzerland, USA, Canada, Germany, and India.

The study focused upon global health, ethical and environmental concerns and dealt with topics such as charitable giving, employment, and global warming. Results showed that, among other things, the US is the most inward-looking and France is the most interested in employment issues.

Some 1,186 members of the British public took part in the study and out of these 83 per cent said they had given to charity in the past year – a higher proportion than any other nation. Canadians were the second most charitable with 77 per cent of adults claiming to have given to charity in the past year.

Whereas Britain is most interested in supporting health causes such as cancer, Switzerland is more concerned about climate change, with 85 per cent of participants stating they were concerned about it. In contrast just 17 per cent of Brits were worried about climate change and only 31 per cent actively recycle.

Just 18 per cent of the 1,503 Americans questioned were interested in developing world debt.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail last week ran a feature suggesting that if were Britain reduced to a village the size of 100 people, within the past four weeks 56 of the 100 villagers would claim to have given to charity and that overall, the village would donate £17,393 to charity in a year.

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