Singapore Ranked 46th in the World in Giving Over the Last Decade

Singapore ranked 46th in the world in giving over the last decade. Find out more on Singaporeans' trend of giving over the past 10 years.

The World Giving Index report published by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) in the United Kingdom has been examining the global giving trend since 2009. Last year, the report analyses the data of the past decade to provide insights to how countries in the world have been giving over the last 10 years. Senior analyst Poh Sho Siam shares more.

The World Giving Index

The World Giving Index looks at following three aspects of giving:

In the past month, the respondents having

  1. Helped a stranger, or someone they didn’t know who needed help
  2. Donated money to a charity
  3. Volunteered their time to an organisation

The index is derived by a simple averaging of the responses to the three questions from a representative sample of 1,000 individuals in each country. Each country is then given a percentage score and ranked accordingly. Last year, the yearly scores were averaged across the past 10 years to derive the aggregate score.

Singapore’s Ranking Over the Decade

United States of America topped the world in giving over the decade, with an index score of 58 per cent, followed by Myanmar in second place with the same score, New Zealand was third in ranking at 57 per cent, and Australia and Ireland at fourth and fifth positions at 56 per cent.

The State of Palestine, Serbia, Yemen, Greece and China were the last few in the ranking with index scores ranging from 16 to 19 per cent (see Chart 1).

Singapore was ranked 46th in the world in giving over the decade with a score of 35 per cent. Singapore achieved its best ranking of 7th in 2018 at a score of 54 per cent, which is a substantial improvement from its lowest at 114th in 2012 at a score of 20 per cent, making Singapore the 3rd biggest rising country over the last 10 years.

Chart 1: Singapore ranked 46th in the world in giving over the decade
Chart 1: Singapore ranked 46th in the world in giving over the decade

Giving Among ASEAN Countries Over the Decade

Among the ASEAN countries, Singapore fared better than Vietnam (84th) and Cambodia (102nd), but fell behind Myanmar (2nd), Indonesia (10th), Thailand (21st), Malaysia (30th) and Philippines (33rd) in ranking over the 10 year period (see Chart 2).

Chart 2: World Giving Index among ASEAN countries over the decade

i) Donating Money

In terms of donating money, Singapore was ranked 21st in the world. Over the 10 years, Singapore attained its highest ranking at 12th place in 2017 with a score of 58 per cent, an increase from its lowest at 53rd with a score of 29 per cent in 2012.

Within ASEAN over the decade, Singapore was ranked above Malaysia (24th), Cambodia (28th), Philippines (63rd) and Vietnam (65th) but below Myanmar (1st), Thailand (4th) and Indonesia (6th) (see Chart 3).

Chart 3: Singapore was ranked 21st in the world in terms of donating money over the last 10 years
Chart 3: Singapore was ranked 21st in the world in terms of donating money over the last 10 years

ii) Helping a Stranger

As for helping a stranger, although Singapore was ranked 96th in the world over the decade, Singapore obtained a ranking of 18th in 2018 scoring 67 per cent, a notable progress from its 140th position in 2012 with a score of 24 per cent.

On average over the last 10 years, Singapore did better than Cambodia (124th) but lagged behind Philippines (32nd), Myanmar (49th), Malaysia (73rd), Vietnam (83rd), Indonesia (86th) and Thailand (89th) among the ASEAN countries (see Chart 4).

Chart 4: Singapore was ranked 96th in the world over the 10 year period when it comes to helping a stranger
Chart 4: Singapore was ranked 96th in the world over the 10 year period when it comes to helping a stranger

iii) Volunteer Time

Singapore made it to the 9th position at 39 per cent with regard to volunteering time in 2018. This is also a significant advancement from its 125th position at 10 per cent in 2010. On average for the past decade, Singapore was ranked 59th in the world.

This ranking is higher than that of Thailand (79th), Vietnam (98th) and Cambodia (113rd) but lower than Myanmar (3rd), Indonesia (7th), Philippines (9th) and Malaysia (29th) (see Chart 5).

Chart 5: Singapore was ranked 59th in the world for volunteering time over the decade
Chart 5: Singapore was ranked 59th in the world for volunteering time over the decade

There have also been various measures and schemes to encourage Singaporeans to give. SG Cares is one such initiative. The national movement to promote volunteerism and build a more caring and inclusive society was launched in 2018. Through its mobile application, the SG Cares App, users can read inspiring volunteer stories and find out more about volunteering opportunities. The app was updated in May 2019 to make it easier and faster for users to search for volunteering opportunities near their homes and that best suit their interests.

Another campaign, the Safer Giving Campaign, was launched in 2018. It aims to equip donors with the right questions to ask and knowledge of basic due diligence to conduct so as to ensure that their donations benefit people or causes that they want to support.

To help enhance public confidence in charities, the Commissioner of Charity (COC) also introduced a Visibility Guide that outlines good reporting practices that guide charities in communicating their impact, governance and accountability to donors more effectively, thereby encouraging more donations.

With the building of a more trustworthy and safer giving environment, we hope that Singaporeans will continue to be generous in their giving and contributing back to society.