The United States has reclaimed its place as the world's most generous nation, according to the World Giving Index 2013 (40 pages, PDF), an annual global survey conducted by the Charities Aid Foundation.

Based on 2012 Gallup survey data from 135 countries, the index looked at three measures of giving — the percentage of people who gave money, volunteered their time, and/or helped a stranger in need in a typical month — and found that the U.S. topped the list in 2012, after having fallen to fifth place in 2011. According to the survey, 77 percent of Americans said they had helped a stranger in 2012 — more than in any other country — while 62 percent said they had given money — up five percentage points from 2011— and 45 percent said they had volunteered their time. The increase in the percentage of Americans who said they gave money was driven by an increase in the percentage of women (66 percent, up from 55 percent) and people between the ages of 25 and 34 (57 percent, up from 40 percent) making donations.

The U.S. also placed first in the index's five-year ranking, followed by Australia, which ranked first in the 2010 (39 pages, PDF) and 2012 editions (84 pages, PDF) but fell to seventh place in this year's rankings. Canada, Myanmar, and New Zealand tied for second place in this year's rankings, with Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Qatar, and Sri Lanka rounding out the top ten.

Despite a slowdown in the global economy, overall charitable behavior increased slightly in 2012, with an average of 47 percent of survey respondents saying they had helped a stranger, up from 45 percent in 2011; 28.5 percent saying they had made a donation to charity, up from 27.2 percent; and 19.7 percent saying they had volunteered, up from 18.3 percent. In all three categories, however, percentages remain slightly below 2008 and/or 2010 levels.

"Our strong history and culture of philanthropy has helped us remain in the top ten most generous countries worldwide over the last five years," said Ted Hart, chief executive officer of CAF America. "We still mustn't get complacent about this. It's important our country's leaders do all they can to encourage a culture of giving in the U.S. Continuing to provide incentives such as charitable tax deductions encourages more people to donate to good causes."