25 Most Generous Countries in the World

Ramish Cheema

Mon, Oct 30, 2023, 11:24 AM9 min read

In this piece, we will take a look at the 25 most generous countries in the world. If you want to skip our introduction to global charitable spending, then take a look at the 5 Most Generous Countries in the World.

Humanity, aided by a couple of key innovations over the past couple of decades, has rapidly progressed and made advancements that have significantly improved the quality of life. For instance, consider the fact that just a century back, the biggest causes of death in America in 1920 included heart disease, tuberculosis, and pneumonia. However, fast forward to 2023, and you'll see that both pneumonia and tuberculosis now rank much lower due to advances in medical science.

At the same time, global food intake or caloric consumption has also increased steadily over the decades, leading to fewer people going hungry. Similarly, education and transportation in 2023 are also quite different these days, since the internet, computer, and mass airline travel have placed these essentials at anyone's disposal.

Yet, wealth inequality is one of the biggest problems that plagues the world in 2023. The fundamental nature of capitalism, which rewards entrepreneurs and risk takers with wealth and assets also leads to these wealthy folks having orders of magnitude more money than the poorest sections of society. While there is nothing inherently wrong with being wealthy, the painful contrast between the wealthy who spend thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars on simple items such as handbags and others who are unable to afford basic medicine shows that sometimes, humanity fails to make life living for its weakest.

Charity is one of the ways in which everyone can contribute to making the world a better place and remove the burdens faced by many people. At the same time, the same internet that has made education more accessible worldwide and also provided opportunities for economic growth to those who might have been much worse off otherwise is also allowing charity to redefine itself. Now, courtesy of the internet, anyone with a genuine need and a compelling story to tell can raise funds through crowdfunding - a luxury that people of the past could not take advantage of.

Like other young sectors, such as biotechnology, the global crowdfunding market is also pegged with some rather impressive growth rates since the best is ahead of them. For instance, a research report from Allied Market Research shows that the global crowdfunding market was worth $1.9 billion in 2021 and it is expected to grow by more than threefold between 2022 and 2031 at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.3%. This will lead to the market being worth $6.8 billion in 2031, and according to the research firm, some of the reasons behind this explosive growth include greater internet usage, more regulations inspiring confidence in crowdfunding, and more people and organizations turning to it due to ease of access to funds.

While crowdfunding is used for both charitable and investment purposes, the non governmental organization (NGO) sector is one that is often exclusively involved in charitable activities. And unlike crowdfunding, NGOs have been around for decades, which makes this segment much larger and more mature than crowdfunding. In fact, the NGO segment is hundreds of times bigger than the crowdfunding market, as research from The Business Research Company suggests that the NGO and charitable organizations market was worth a cool $329 billion as of 2020 end. From then until 2025, the segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% to be worth $457 by 2025 end. From 2025 to 2030, the sector will exhibit a CAGR of 4.9% for a final value of $528 billion. Just like crowdfunding benefits from technology, The Business Research Company believes that the growth of smartphones and micro donation applications has made the lives of NGOs much easier when it comes to raising donations. It also adds that crowdfunding platforms are being increasingly used by NGOs as well since they are able to attract a vast number of people from all over the globe.

Finally, data from Nonprofits Source shows that Americans donated $471 billion to charities in 2020 which marks a 5.1% annual growth. 31% of these donations went to charities that are located overseas. 41% of the total donations were in response to natural disasters, such as a series of devastating floods that have hit poor and rich countries alike. Charitable trends also differ by the generation of the giver, with different trends being exhibited by Millennials, Baby Boomers, and Generation X. Nonprofits data shows that Millennials significantly outnumber Baby Boomers when it comes to the percentage that donate to charity. This is because 84% of the Millennials gave to charities while this percentage drops to 72% for the Boomers. However, Boomers give significantly more on average, as while the average Millennial donation was $481 spread across 3.3 organizations, the average Boomer donation is $1,212 that is spread across 4.5 organizations.

With these details in mind, let's take a look the most generous countries in the world.

Pixabay/Public Domain

Our Methodology

To compile our list of the most generous countries in the world, we used data from the Charities Aid Foundation's World Giving Index 2022. This is one of the biggest reports of its kind since it uses data from thousands of people through the Gallup World Poll.

25 Most Generous Countries in the World

25. Mongolia

World Giving Index Score: 46%

Mongolia is a landlocked East Asian country that is one of the poorest in the world since it has a GDP per capita of $4,814. The country ranks high in human development but low in equality.

24. Kingdom of Denmark

World Giving Index Score: 46%

Denmark is a developed European country. It has a GDP of $390 billion and one of the highest per capita incomes in the world of $66,516.

23. Iceland

World Giving Index Score: 46%

Iceland is another European country. It ranks seventh in the list of the countries with the highest GDP per capita, with the latest figures estimating the per capita income at $73,981.

22. Republic of Uganda

World Giving Index Score: 46%

Uganda is a landlocked African country. It has one of the lowest GDP per capita in the world, which currently sits at $1,060. It relies primarily on agricultural exports to earn foreign exchange.