Africa still lead in charity states The CAF World Giving Report 2025, published by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). Photo snippet from The CAF World Giving Report 2025,
By the end of 2024, global giving had evolved beyond institutional charity and formal fundraising campaigns.
From direct support to neighbours in crisis to tithing in faith-based communities, acts of generosity took on new and varied forms.
The CAF World Giving Report 2025, published by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), captures this changing landscape with the most detailed global study of giving behaviours ever released.
Drawing from more than 55,000 respondents in 101 countries and territories, the report redefines generosity to include donations to people in need, to charities, and religious organisations.
In doing so, it not only updates previous annual indices but fundamentally reshapes how generosity is measured and understood across cultures and income groups.
From Index to Insight
For over a decade, the CAF World Giving Index offered an annual snapshot of generosity across the globe.
It focused primarily on three questions: whether people had helped a stranger, donated money, or volunteered time.
While useful, this approach offered only a limited understanding of the depth, drivers, and context of global giving.
In 2025, that framework was replaced.
The Index has now evolved into the World Giving Report, a more comprehensive, nuanced exploration of giving behaviours.
The report’s evolution from the CAF World Giving Index to this more comprehensive study allows for a more nuanced understanding, providing an overall index score that combines donating, volunteering, and helping a stranger.
“Our intention is for this deeper insight to help understanding and prompt conversations, from policymakers to personal networks,” wrote CAF’s Head of Research, Alex Plum, and Head of International Marijana Sevic in the report’s opening note.
“By telling both sides of the story, that of donors and that of charities, our findings will be valuable to governments, policymakers, charities themselves, and all types of givers.”
A Shift in the Geography and Shape of Giving
At a time when official development assistance is being reduced and humanitarian needs are rising, individual giving is becoming more central to social resilience.
According to the report, Africa is now the world’s most generous continent, both in terms of how many people give and how much they give relative to income.
On average, Africans gave 1.54% of their income in 2024, the highest of any region globally.
In Nigeria, the top-ranked country, people donated 2.83% of their income, nearly three times the global average of 1.04%.
Kenya (2.13%), Uganda (2.04%), Ghana (2.19%), Egypt (2.45%), and Malawi (1.80%) also ranked in the top ten.
CAF’s research partner, the African Philanthropy Forum, reflected on Nigeria’s position:
“Nigeria’s generosity stands to reason when you consider how highly valued friendship, community, and familial ties are… In the face of need, regardless of tribe, Nigerians are known to actively display generosity and solidarity not out of abundance, but out of necessity and the desire to put loved ones and family first.”
In Nigeria, 34% of donations went directly to people in need, 32% to charities, and 33% to religious organisations — a balanced spread that reflects giving across multiple channels.
Globally, nearly two-thirds of people gave money in some form during 2024.
But in many countries, giving happens outside formal structures.
Across all regions, direct giving to individuals in need (38%) was the most common form of generosity. In contrast, 36% gave to charities and 25% to religious causes.
The report highlights that while men were slightly more likely to donate to a charity, women were more likely to give directly to a person in need.
It also found that the proportion of people giving decreases with age, but older donors give a larger share of their income.
Notably, income level does not predict generosity.
People in low-income countries gave 1.45% of their income, while high-income countries gave only 0.7%.
Among the least generous were several G7 nations, including Japan, where only 16% of people gave, and the average donation was just 0.16% of income.
Faith, Social Norms, and Time as Drivers of Generosity
The report challenges assumptions that religious giving competes with other giving.
It found that:
“Religious giving activates rather than takes away from other giving.”
Donors motivated by religion gave 2.2% of their income, nearly a full percentage point higher than others.
They also supported more causes, 3.9 on average, compared to 2.6.
Countries where people cited social expectations, such as setting an example or community duty, recorded significantly higher donation levels.
CAF also measured volunteerism.
In 2024, 26% of people worldwide volunteered, averaging 9 hours each. Again, Africa led the way with an average of 14.5 hours per person.
Top volunteer nations included Rwanda (26.6 hours), Côte d’Ivoire (23.3), Malawi (21.6), Kenya (20.6), and Uganda (16.6).
In Uganda, the spirit of ubuntu — “I am because you are” — was cited as central to this giving culture.
“Religious beliefs further strengthen volunteering,” said Josephine Atuhaire of CivSource Africa, “with churches, mosques, and cultural institutions actively mobilising communities for charity.”
Priorities, Trust, and the Role of Government
The most popular giving causes in 2024 were:
- Children and young people (29%)
- Poverty relief (28%)
- Religious work (26%)
- Humanitarian aid (24%)
Nigerian donors, who gave the most as a percentage of income, also supported the most causes, averaging 4.3 per person.
Local giving dominated. Globally, 71% of donors gave locally, and only 12% supported international charities.
In Africa, 87% of donations were local. In Yemen, it was 99%.
Trust also followed this local-first pattern. People trusted local charities more than national or international ones.
Where governments actively encouraged giving, donation levels were 1.7 times higher.
CAF notes that encouragement doesn’t mean coercion; only 18% of donors in these countries said they gave because it was required.
Instead, supportive government attitudes appeared to build confidence and social norms.
CAF also explored why people distrust charities:
- High administrative costs
- Poor transparency
- Lack of information on impact or outcomes
Why People Gave
Top five reasons:
- I care about the cause / to make a difference (65%)
- We must give to charity if we can (28%)
- My religion encourages giving (28%)
- I wanted to support my local community (22%)
- I want to set an example for others (18%)
Why People Did Not Give
Top five reasons:
- I couldn’t afford it (40%)
- I prefer to give other support, like gifts or food (20%)
- I don’t trust charities to use my money wisely (14%)
- It didn’t occur to me (10%)
- I haven’t been asked (10%)
What Would Encourage More Giving
- If I had more money (45%)
- Knowing more about how my money would be spent (36%)
- Knowing more about the results and impact a charity has (35%)
A Moment of Generosity in a Time of Scarcity
The 2025 World Giving Report offers a clear and timely reminder: generosity thrives under pressure.
Whether through financial donations, voluntary service, or spiritual obligation, people around the world are giving often more than we assume, and often where it is least expected.
“Around the world, social purpose organisations are facing severe financial headwinds,” writes CAF Chief Executive Neil Heslop.
“It has never been more important for individual giving to remain the cornerstone of generosity.”
The data suggests that the future of giving lies not only in grand philanthropic pledges but in the quiet, daily acts of kindness from neighbour to neighbour, a truth that transcends borders, income, and ideology.
