07 December 2014
There is no way to measure corruption in a country. The closest we can get is the Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency.org. This index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be by the people in that country. There may be a difference in the actual corruption and perceived corruption. Corruption in the private sector is not covered in this index. The index shows corruption on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). A country or territory’s rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories in the index. This year’s index includes 175 countries and territories and is for the year 2014.
Singapore lost score from 86 in 2013 to 84 in 2014. In rank it is in the 7th position ahead of Australia and Canada. India gains in score from 36 to 38 and Sri Lanka from 37 to 38. India and Sri Lanka are in the rank of 85.
China holding a rank of 100 loses score from 40 to 36. China held a rank of 80 in the prvious year’s survey, It is suprising that in rank China falls behind even countries like Zambia, Armenia and Liberia. The party-run Global Times criticised Tranaparency International saying that it had not given the due credit for the much publicised crack-down and numerous arrests made since 2012. Transparency International said the rankings are based on surveys of country experts and business people. It said China’s public sector lacks transparency and accountability despite the crackdown. The recent crackdowns are viewed by some as clamp down on political opponents of the regime rather than a genuin anti-corruption commitment. Improper handling of Hong Kong demonstrations also could have had some influence in the slipping dwon of the rank. ICIJ’s China leaks could also have contributed to the down-trend. Chinese courts jailed several activists this year for calling for public disclosure of the assets of government officials on the ground that these actions will disturb public order. The government also hushed the web users from disclosing several corruption incidents. Transparency International says that government officials can still send their illegal gains offshore and that China is the world’s biggest exporter of illicit money.
While India ranked slightly above China, in terms of score both countries are hovering around 36-38 range. This is a harsh reality check. Both countries need to improve transparency and accountability in the government. These two factors highly influence the corruption perception.
The UK holds a rank of 14 and the United States 17.
Developed countries can help developing countries to eradicate corruption. If countries work together corruption as a whole can be reduced.
You can get the details from here.
The top countries are
COUNTRY RANK 2014
Denmark 1 92
New Zealand 2 91
Finland 3 89
Sweden 4 87
Norway 5 86
Switzerland 5 86
Singapore 7 84
Netherlands 8 83
Luxembourg 9 82
Canada 10 81
Australia 11 80
Germany 12 79
Iceland 12 79
United Kingdom 14 78
Belgium 15 76
Japan 15 76
Barbados 17 74
Hong Kong 17 74
These are the counties at the bottom:
Chad 154 22
Congo, 154 22
Cambodia 156 21
Myanmar 156 21
Zimbabwe 156 21
Burundi 159 20
Syria 159 20
Angola 161 19
Guinea-Bissau 161 19
Haiti 161 19
Venezuela 161 19
Yemen 161 19
Eritrea 166 18
Libya 166 18
Uzbekistan 166 18
Turkmenistan 169 17
Iraq 170 16
South Sudan 171 15
Afghanistan 172 12
Sudan 173 11
Korea (North) 174 8
Somalia 174 8
