25 Facts and Stats about NGOs Worldwide

#NGOFACTS is an ongoing online campaign that highlights important data about non-governmental organizations (NGOs), nonprofits, and charities worldwide. You can join the campaign by sharing facts and stats about the NGO sector in your country using the #NGOFACTS hashtag on social media.

1

There are an estimated 10 million non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide.

Source: The Global Journal

2

If NGOs were a country, they would have the 5th largest economy in the world.

Source: John Hopkins University, Center for Civil Society Studies

3

Nearly one in three (31.5%) people worldwide donated to charity in 2015 and one in four (24%) volunteered.

Source: CAF World Giving Index 2015

4

The term "non-governmental organization" was created in Article 71 of the Charter of the newly formed United Nations in 1945. An NGO can be any kind of organization provided that it is independent from government influence and is not-for-profit.

Source: GrantSpace

5

Three out of four employees in the NGO sector are female, but the majority of leadership positions at NGOs are still predominately held by men.

Source: HR Council

6

There are more than 1.4 million NGOs in the United States that employ 11.4 million Americans.

Source: Urban Institute/Bureau of Labor Statistics

7

Eighty-four percent of Canadians donate to non-governmental organizations with an average individual donation of $446 per year. In total, that is $10.6 billion donated to NGOs by Canadians every year.

Source: Imagine Canada

8

There are 10,700 registered non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Mexico. 66% focus on providing access to healthcare and 27% are based in Distrito Federal.

Source: Cemefi

9

The majority of salaried NGO employees in Brazil are female (62%), but they only earn 75% of the wages paid to their male colleagues.

Source: Abong

10

With over 3.3 million non-governmental organisations, India has approximately one NGO for every 400 people.

Source: Infochange

11

There are more than 129,000 public-benefit foundations in Europe. Combined these non-governmental organisations (NGOs) give more than 53 billion euros annually.

Source: Donors and Foundations Networks in Europe

12

The NGO sector In England and Wales is made up of 165,000 registered charities, 948,000 employees, 943,000 trustees, and 3,200,000 volunteers.

Source: Charity Commission

13

The Hague, Netherlands is the International City of Peace and Justice and home to 160 non-governmental organizations that employ more than 14,000 people.

Source: The Hague International Center

14

40% of the French population volunteers with a local association or NGO and 22% regularly donate money.

Source: France Bénévolat

15

The Third Sector in Germany consists of more than 600,000 non-governmental organizations. 40% of the NGOs were founded after the year 2000.

Source: ZiviZ

16

As of 2015, there were 136,453 registered non-governmental organizations in South Africa and on average, 68 new NGOs are registered every day.

Source: Republic of South Africa

17

The NGO sector in Kenya represents more than 290,000 full-time employees and volunteers of which 80% are under the age of 24.

Source: Devex

18

There are more than 600,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Australia whose employees make up 8% of Australian workforce. However, only 60,000 of these NGOs are registered with the ACNC.

Source: Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission

19

The number of people worldwide donating money to NGOs increased from 1.2 billion in 2011 to 1.4 billion in 2014. By 2030, the number is expected to grow to 2.5 billion.

Source: Charities Aid Foundation

20

The estimated value of volunteer is $23.07 per hour. Thus, the value of the 7.7 billion hours of volunteer work performed by 62.6 million Americans, or 25.4 percent of the adult population, in 2013 was $173 billion.

Source: Independent Sector

21

Total giving in the United States to non-governmental organizations was $358.38 billion in 2014 (about 2% of GDP) – an increase of 7.1% from 2013.

Source: Giving USA Foundation

22

9 out 10 people in the Gulf states donate to NGOs regularly with 63% of the donations being made during the religious holidays of Ramadan and Eid.

Source: Philanthropy Age

23

53% of Asia Pacific citizens donate to NGOs with those in Thailand (71%), Vietnam (70%), and Hong Kong (65%) giving most often. Children’s health and education is the most popular cause.

Source: MasterCard Engagement Bureau

24

The NGO sector in Sweden is made up of 232,000 non-governmental organizations and 58% of its employees are female.

Source: Statistiska centralbyråns

25

Eighty percent of global citizens agree that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) make it easy to be involved in positive social change.

Source: Walden University