Global survey: Iraqis are the world’s most generous to strangers

Although torn by war, Iraq is the world’s most generous country towards strangers in need, according to a new global index of charitable giving.

Although torn by war, Iraq is the world’s most generous country towards strangers in need, according to a new global index of charitable giving.

Eighty one percent of Iraqis reported helping someone they didn’t know in the previous month, in a global poll commissioned by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).

For the first time since CAF began the poll in 2010, more than half of people in 140 countries surveyed said they had helped strangers – with many of the most generous found in countries hit hard by disaster and war.

Despite suffering instability and violence, Iraq has been ranked top twice in terms of helping strangers. Libya, with its own internal conflict, was second on the list this year and Somalia, embroiled in civil war for 25 years, sits in fourth place.