MasterCard has revealed Hongkongers give more to charity than citizens of any other part of Greater China.
The latest MasterCard survey shows more than six in 10 Hongkongers (64.6 per cent) contributed to a charity last year, surpassing their counterparts in both Mainland China and Taiwan.
They’re even more charitable than most of their Asia Pacific counterparts. The vast majority (87 per cent) of local respondents plan to make about the same or more contributions to charity than last year, topping the region together with Singaporeans.
Among those who contributed, local consumers have the highest affinity for causes focused on “serious illness” such as cancer or heart disease (25.7 per cent), followed by “global/ other country natural disaster relief” (24.5 per cent) and “poverty/ starvation alleviation” (23.5 per cent). Interestingly, while “children’s health and education” is the most important cause in Asia Pacific respondents’ hearts, Hong Kong is the only exception in the region, where respondents did not mention it as one of their top three causes.
When asked about how much they feel comfortable donating each year, 61.3 per cent of local respondents are likely to make up to US$100 individual donations, whereas 8.7 per cent claimed they would make a sizable donation of more than US$500, ranking the second place in the whole region.
The results are based on interviews that took place between October and December 2014, with a minimum of 500 people aged 18-64, in each of the 14 markets.
Overall, more than half of Asia Pacific consumers donate to charity, with those in Thailand (70.5 per cent), Vietnam (70.4 per cent), Hong Kong (64.6 per cent) and Indonesia (63.2 per cent) more likely to do so.
Japanese are the least likely to donate to charity with only 16.2 per cent saying they are doing so.