Bulgarians have been ranked close to the bottom of the World Index CAF (World Giving Index), but nevertheless are becoming more and more generous, the study shows.

CAF is the most comprehensive study of the charitable behavior of people in the world.

The results of the World Index were released Tuesday by the International Network of CAF and its Bulgarian partner, the Foundation "Charities Aid Bulgaria," btvnews.bg reported.

The 2013 World Giving Index – published annually by international nonprofit organization Charities Aid Foundation – looks at three measures: monetary giving, volunteering and helping of strangers in a typical month. The survey was carried out in 2012 across 135 countries.

With 19 points, Bulgaria ranks 118th out of the 135 countries.

However, in Bulgaria, the number of people engaged in voluntary activities (7%) and those who helped a stranger (36% ) is at its highest level since the country participated in this study. The number of people who have donated money to charitable causes has increased by 5%, compared to the previous year.

A total of 15 % of Bulgarian people have given money to charity in 2012.

The United States is the world's most generous nation, according to the Index.

Three countries tied for second place: Canada, Myanmar, and New Zealand. Australia, which was the highest-ranked nation in both the 2010 and 2012 reports, dropped to the seventh position.

The Index 2013 has ranked Ireland as the most generous country in Europe and fifth most generous country in the world.

Greece came at bottom of the Index, with Croatia just above them.

Overall, the index found that the world had become a more generous place, with the percentage of people donating money, volunteering time, and helping a stranger growing in 2012 compared with 2011.

The average proportion of people helping strangers across the countries surveyed in 2012 was 47%, up 2.4% from 2011.

The next highest increase was in volunteering time, up 1.4% to 19.7%.

The number of people donating money was 28.5%, an increase of 1.3%.

While levels of giving remain below those recorded five years ago, emerging economies are surging ahead in charitable donations, the CNBC writes, giving as example India.

According to the survey findings, there are gender differences when it comes to giving patterns with women more likely to donate money to charity than men globally.

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