Geneva  - Saudi Arabia was the largest international donor to humanitarian appeals, when measured as a percentage of the national economy, the United Nations reported Tuesday.

The Saudi kingdom gave 0.19 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to humanitarian funding.

Sweden, which gave 0.14 per cent of its national product and Norway with 0.13, followed in the list of top donor countries.

Many small European countries, with large and generally affluent populations, were also part of the lead countries by GDP. Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates were also large proportional donors.

The United States came in 19th on the list, having donated 0.02 per cent of GDP in 2008, ahead of Tonga.

The figures were released on the same day the UN announced its humanitarian appeals for 2009 are short 4.8 billion dollars six months into the year.(dpa)