Scots are the most generous people in the UK and donated £813m to charity last year, according to a new report.

The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) found Scots are more likely to donate money to charity, volunteer their time, donate goods to charity and sponsor a friend or colleague than people across the UK.

CAF’s first annual Scottish report found the total represents 8.4% of the £9.7bn donated to charity across the UK over the past year.

This is despite Scotland only accounting for 8.2% of the population.

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The CAF report, entitled Scotland Giving 2017, is based on a monthly tracking survey by polling firm YouGov.

It revealed around one in five Scots volunteered their time in the last year, and this is higher among women than men.

Nearly 60% gave goods to a charity shop or other good cause and more than half signed a petition.

Two-thirds of people in Scotland donated money to charity in the last year, with November being the peak month due to a number of national fundraising campaigns.

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Medical research was the most popular cause, followed by animal welfare, children and young people, and disaster relief.

The report also found 94% of 16-24 year olds had done some form of charitable activity in the preceding year, higher than the UK average of 89%.

It stated: “Although there are many similarities between giving in Scotland and giving in the UK as a whole, there are some clear differences in attitudes and forms of engagement that are reflective of the culture of giving that is so deeply embedded within Scotland.”

Susan Pinkney, head of research at the CAF, said: “This important new research confirms that Scots are incredibly generous and dedicated to supporting the causes they care about.

“However you look at it, Scotland performs incredibly well and this shows the amazing culture of giving we have here in Scotland, of which we should all be very proud.”

The report was based on 1000 interviews conducted online across the UK each month from May to December last year, with around 80 interviews conducted each month in Scotland.