The Most Generous Country In The World?

Yes, we live in a generous country. We help people in need, especially after major disasters. We will even shed our blood for them (See Wars, World). But it may surprise you to learn we are not the most generous. According to the 2018 World Giving Index (https://www.cafonline.org/about-us/publications/2018-publications/caf-world-giving-index-2018 ), it’s Indonesia.

Indonesia’s gross domestic product per capita is a low 127th in the world, and one person in ten lived in poverty as of 2017. So why are its citizens so generous?

It’s probably due to location. Indonesia is composed of literally thousands of islands on the Pacific Rim, and consequently is regularly victimized by earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. Consequently, its people are used to being called on to help others; in 2018, 205 million Indonesians, or 78 percent, say they donated money.

Myanmar had been first in the Index for every year since 2014, but fell to ninth, probably due to increased political turmoil, especially the Rohingya crisis.This enabled Indonesia to move up on the giving scale. Interestingly, other fast risers include Kenya, Australia and Singapore. By the way, the U.S. is ranked fourth.

The number of natural disasters is expected to continue to increase in 2019. But the Indonesians have a saying — Satu Indonesia, meaning One Indonesia, or one family — so they are expected to stay at or near the top in international philanthropy.

Taken from “Which Is the World’s Most Generous Country?” by Erin Cook (https://www.ozy.com/acumen/which-is-the-worlds-most-generous-country/92175?)

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