According to the annual report released by the Charities Aid Foundation, Sri Lanka, with a strong Theravada Buddhist community, is the topmost generous country in the subcontinent placing ninth out of 135 countries with a score of 54.

Sri Lanka ranked at the third place for participation in volunteering time but ranked at 40 for helping a stranger and at 17 for donating money.

According to the survey, an over-time analysis of Sri Lanka’s World Giving Index scores illustrates that end of hostilities in the country has uplifted the giving behaviour. The WGI data over the period 2006-2013 shows that engagement following the end of the civil war across all types of giving rose by at least eight percentage points.

Sri Lanka’s civil war which raged for 26 years ended in May 2009.

It is also normal when conflicts end for the economy of that country to improve, and a growing economy can enable more people to be charitable. In Sri Lanka, the initial increase in charitable behaviours occurred prior to the economy picking up, but continuing growth no doubt facilitates an environment for sustained giving.

Myanmar and the US shared a 64% generosity rating and ranked at the top of the index while Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia placed in the top five countries.

In the South Asia region India ranked at 69th place, Pakistan at 61, Bangladesh at 72 and Nepal at 44th place.

This fifth edition of the World Giving Index this year presents giving data from across the globe over a five-year period (2009-2013). The World Giving Index 2014 includes data from 135 countries across the globe that was collected throughout the calendar year of 2013.