Three quarters of the world's leading companies regularly publish reports on their activities in the area of social responsibility, the so-called CSR reports. By numbers most CSR reports are published in the Americas, 76% of companies, Europe, 73% of companies and Asia Pacific follow with 71% of companies. In terms of quality the European companies reports are the best. The very best quality CSR reports are published in Italy. These are findings of a survey by the global KPMG network called KPMG Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2013.
This survey has been conducted since 1993, in 2013 it involved by far the largest sample of respondents. Hundreds of companies with the highest revenues from 41 countries were included, for a total of 4,100 companies. "The growth in the number of countries and companies included in the survey is proof of the fact that CSR reporting in the business sector has become common in the past two decades" stated KPMG in a press release.
The biggest increases happened in Asia
Since 2011, the number of companies that publish reports on social responsibility has increased by 7% (from 64% to 71%). In the group of 250 of the world's largest companies, measured by sales, it is as high as 93%. As part of their annual report, 51% of companies publish CSR reports. In 2008 it was only 9%, in 2011 it was 20%. The largest increase in CSR reporting was recorded in the Asia Pacific region. Since 2011, the number of Asian companies publishing reports on social responsibility has increased from 22% to 71%.
Europe wins in the quality of CSR reports
According to the survey conclusions, European companies represent the model of the quality of CSR reports. In the assessment of the quality of the reports by a group of the 250 of the world's largest companies, European companies achieved the highest average rating of 71 points out of 100. The highest quality reports were published by companies from Italy, 85, Spain, 79 and Great Britain, 76%. The average rating of American companies was 54 points, Asian companies were rated 50 points on average.
The highest quality reports were published by companies operating in the fields of electronics and technology, averaging 75 points, mining, 70 points and the pharmaceutical industry, 70 points. The most active sectors of 2013 included the automotive industry, 77% and telecommunications & media, 75%.
The same methodology, but differently balanced content
The GRI, Globau Reporting Initiative, methodology was used to report on CSR by 78% of the companies surveyed. Regarding the content of CSR reports, only 23% of companies from the 250 of the world's largest companies publish balanced reports which include both successes, challenges and obstacles in the area of CSR. Only 22% clearly linked the results in the filed of social responsibility with the remuneration of their managers and employees.
The entire survey can be downloaded from the KPMG website here: www.kpmg.com/crrsurvey
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