Bhutan ranked 11th most charitable country
Play
Bhutan has been ranked 11th in the World Giving Index, which measures charitable giving among countries.
This is the first time Bhutan has been included in the index, which aims to provide insight into the scope and nature of giving around the world.
The annual index is calculated by simply averaging responses to three central questions. The respondent has to answer whether any money has been donated to a charity, any voluntary work has been contributed to an organisation, and whether any help has been provided to a stranger, all in the past month.
After averaging responses, each country is assigned a percentage score and ranked accordingly.
Bhutan is given a score of 53 per cent, putting it in 11th place globally.
In terms of helping a stranger, Bhutan is ranked 46th, with 54 per cent of respondents having helped someone they did not know in the past month.
For donations, the country comes in at 12th, with 63 per cent having donated to a charity in the past month.
For voluntary work, it is at ninth, with 43 per cent having volunteered for an organisation in the past month.
Globally, Myanmar and the United States share the top spot, with each getting a score of 64 per cent.
Myanmar’s high ranking is attributed to nine out of ten people following Theravada Buddhism there. A sangha (ordained monks and nuns) supported by dana (charitable giving) by laymen contributes to a strong culture of charity, it is pointed out in the report.
Myanmar and the US are followed by Canada and Ireland respectively.
In Asia, Bhutan ranks fourth, after Myanmar, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka.
In the neighbourhood, Nepal is ranked 44th, followed by India (69), Bangladesh (72), and China (128).
Fieldwork for the index was carried out by the market research firm Gallup. The 2014 index includes data collected in 2013 from 135 countries.
The Charities Aid Foundation publishes the index.
