Indonesia has been named as the most generous country in the world for 2018

The world’s most generous countries have been revealed.

The UK is back in the top ten most generous countries in the world, according to the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) World Giving Index – the world’s leading measure of global generosity.

The UK jumped five places in a year, and is now the sixth most generous country in the world.

Ireland is the only country in Europe that is more generous, coming in at fifth place.

The survey shows that in the UK, one in three (33%) said they volunteered in the past month, up from 28% last year.

Sixty-eight per cent of people gave money – up slightly from 64% last year - and 63% helped a stranger - again, up from 58%.

Levels of giving across Africa are continuing to grow, confirming a trend which appeared in last year’s index. While last year’s report showed that every western country in the top 20 had a lower giving score, this decline has now largely been reversed.

Indonesia tops the CAF World Giving Index for the first time. While its three individual giving scores are largely unchanged on last year, it has moved into the top spot. Polling was carried out in 2017, before the earthquake and tsunami which struck the country in September.

Myanmar, the most generous country on earth for 2017, fell to ninth place in the rankings, owing largely to a fall in the number of people volunteering. The United States moved up one place to 4th in the rankings.

John Low, chief executive of CAF, said: “It is forever humbling to see how people across the world continue to be moved to help others, giving their time, donating money and helping strangers. It is a basic human instinct to lend a helping hand, and it is always amazing to see how people in countries which have suffered conflict and natural disasters are stirred to help those in need.

“It is good news that this year’s CAF World Giving Index shows a continued increase in giving across Africa. It is also encouraging that last year’s decline in western countries seems to have been reversed.

“But we should be concerned that for the second year running there has been a decline in the proportion of people donating money to good causes. It is a reminder to all of us in civil society that we should never take giving for granted.”

The index is published just under a month before Giving Tuesday – 27 November– the global day of giving when people are asked to give their time, money or voice to a good cause.