UAE among world's most generous

Dubai: The UAE has been voted one of the ten most generous countries in the world in the latest global study that tracks giving trends.

The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has recently polled individuals living in 139 countries and asked them if they had helped a stranger, donated money or volunteered their time to an organisation.

The UAE emerged as the ninth most giving country in the World Giving Index for 2017, with an overall score of 71, beating a number of wealthy nations including Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The "most generous" crown went to Myanmar, followed by Indonesia, Kenya, New Zealand and United States in the top five. Other countries ahead of the UAE are Australia, occupying the sixth spot, Canada (7th) and Ireland in the eighth position.

The UAE’s peers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region didn’t make it to the top 30, with Kuwait taking the 31st position and  Saudi Arabia in the 48th spot.

The countries included in the study were also ranked separately according to three main categories. The UAE earned the most votes for helping a stranger, ranking 11th globally.

In terms of donating money, the UAE was ranked the 17 most generous, but it didn’t score as good in terms of volunteering time to an organization, taking only the 35th position in the said category.