OUT OF ALL the countries in Europe, Ireland has been named as the most charitable for the second year in a row and as the second most charitable nation in the world.

The report, published by the World Giving Index 2012, is based on three measures: giving money, volunteering time and helping a stranger.

The research reveals that 79 per cent of Irish people donate money to charity, an increase of 4 per cent on 2011 levels and 51 per cent higher than the global average.

Around 66 per cent of the Irish population helped a stranger in the previous month and 34 per cent of Irish people volunteer time each month, 16 per cent above the global average.

According to the study, Turkmenistan has the highest percentage of its population that volunteer time and Liberia came out top when it comes to helping a stranger.

Yvonne McKenna, CEO of Volunteer Ireland, said it’s in our nature:

The research highlights the remarkable generosity of spirit that continues to thrive in Ireland throughout difficult times. Connecting with people is something that is inherent to our culture in Ireland and this is reflected in the statistics.

Over 155,000 people were polled in 146 countries for the report.