Corruption Perceptions Index 2017

Surveys • 21 February 2018

This year’s Corruption Perceptions Index highlights that the majority of countries are making little or no progress in ending corruption, while further analysis shows journalists and activists in corrupt countries risking their lives every day in an effort to speak out.

The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople, uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. This year, the index found that more than two-thirds of countries score below 50, with an average score of 43. Unfortunately, compared to recent years, this poor performance is nothing new.

This year, New Zealand and Denmark rank highest with scores of 89 and 88 respectively. Syria, South Sudan and Somalia rank lowest with scores of 14, 12 and 9 respectively. The best performing region is Western Europe with an average score of 66. The worst performing regions are Sub-Saharan Africa (average score 32) and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (average score 34).

Corruption perceptions index 2017

2017 Rank	Country	2017 Score	2016 Score	2015 Score	2014 Score	2013 Score	2012 Score	Region
1	New Zealand	89	90	91	91	91	90	Asia Pacific
2	Denmark	88	90	91	92	91	90	Europe and Central Asia
3	Finland	85	89	90	89	89	90	Europe and Central Asia
3	Norway	85	85	88	86	86	85	Europe and Central Asia
3	Switzerland	85	86	86	86	85	86	Europe and Central Asia
6	Singapore	84	84	85	84	86	87	Asia Pacific
6	Sweden	84	88	89	87	89	88	Europe and Central Asia
8	Canada	82	82	83	81	81	84	Americas
8	Luxembourg	82	81	85	82	80	80	Europe and Central Asia
8	Netherlands	82	83	84	83	83	84	Europe and Central Asia
8	United Kingdom	82	81	81	78	76	74	Europe and Central Asia
12	Germany	81	81	81	79	78	79	Europe and Central Asia
13	Australia	77	79	79	80	81	85	Asia Pacific
13	Hong Kong	77	77	75	74	75	77	Asia Pacific
13	Iceland	77	78	79	79	78	82	Europe and Central Asia
16	Austria	75	75	76	72	69	69	Europe and Central Asia
16	Belgium	75	77	77	76	75	75	Europe and Central Asia
16	United States	75	74	76	74	73	73	Americas
19	Ireland	74	73	75	74	72	69	Europe and Central Asia
20	Japan	73	72	75	76	74	74	Asia Pacific
21	Estonia	71	70	70	69	68	64	Europe and Central Asia
21	United Arab Emirates	71	66	70	70	69	68	Middle East and North Africa
23	France	70	69	70	69	71	71	Europe and Central Asia
23	Uruguay	70	71	74	73	73	72	Americas
25	Barbados	68	61	N/A	74	75	76	Americas
26	Bhutan	67	65	65	65	63	63	Asia Pacific
26	Chile	67	66	70	73	71	72	Americas
28	Bahamas	65	66	N/A	71	71	71	Americas
29	Portugal	63	62	64	63	62	63	Europe and Central Asia
29	Qatar	63	61	71	69	68	68	Middle East and North Africa
29	Taiwan	63	61	62	61	61	61	Asia Pacific
32	Brunei Darussalam	62	58	N/A	N/A	60	55	Asia Pacific
32	Israel	62	64	61	60	61	60	Middle East and North Africa
34	Botswana	61	60	63	63	64	65	Sub Saharan Africa
34	Slovenia	61	61	60	58	57	61	Europe and Central Asia
36	Poland	60	62	63	61	60	58	Europe and Central Asia
36	Seychelles	60	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Sub Saharan Africa
38	Costa Rica	59	58	55	54	53	54	Americas
38	Lithuania	59	59	59	58	57	54	Europe and Central Asia
40	Latvia	58	57	56	55	53	49	Europe and Central Asia
40	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	58	60	N/A	62	62	62	Americas
42	Cyprus	57	55	61	63	63	66	Europe and Central Asia
42	Czech Republic	57	55	56	51	48	49	Europe and Central Asia
42	Dominica	57	59	N/A	58	58	58	Americas
42	Spain	57	58	58	60	59	65	Europe and Central Asia
46	Georgia	56	57	52	52	49	52	Europe and Central Asia
46	Malta	56	55	60	55	56	57	Europe and Central Asia
48	Cape Verde	55	59	55	57	58	60	Sub Saharan Africa
48	Rwanda	55	54	54	49	53	53	Sub Saharan Africa
48	Saint Lucia	55	60	N/A	71	71	71	Americas
51	Korea, South	54	53	54	55	55	56	Asia Pacific
52	Grenada	52	56	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Americas
53	Namibia	51	52	53	49	48	48	Sub Saharan Africa
54	Italy	50	47	44	43	43	42	Europe and Central Asia
54	Mauritius	50	54	53	54	52	57	Sub Saharan Africa
54	Slovakia	50	51	51	50	47	46	Europe and Central Asia
57	Croatia	49	49	51	48	48	46	Europe and Central Asia
57	Saudi Arabia	49	46	52	49	46	44	Middle East and North Africa
59	Greece	48	44	46	43	40	36	Europe and Central Asia
59	Jordan	48	48	53	49	45	48	Middle East and North Africa
59	Romania	48	48	46	43	43	44	Europe and Central Asia
62	Cuba	47	47	47	46	46	48	Americas
62	Malaysia	47	49	50	52	50	49	Asia Pacific
64	Montenegro	46	45	44	42	44	41	Europe and Central Asia
64	Sao Tome and Principe	46	46	42	42	42	42	Sub Saharan Africa
66	Hungary	45	48	51	54	54	55	Europe and Central Asia
66	Senegal	45	45	44	43	41	36	Sub Saharan Africa
68	Belarus	44	40	32	31	29	31	Europe and Central Asia
68	Jamaica	44	39	41	38	38	38	Americas
68	Oman	44	45	45	45	47	47	Middle East and North Africa
71	Bulgaria	43	41	41	43	41	41	Europe and Central Asia
71	South Africa	43	45	44	44	42	43	Sub Saharan Africa
71	Vanuatu	43	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Asia Pacific
74	Burkina Faso	42	42	38	38	38	38	Sub Saharan Africa
74	Lesotho	42	39	44	49	49	45	Sub Saharan Africa
74	Tunisia	42	41	38	40	41	41	Middle East and North Africa
77	China	41	40	37	36	40	39	Asia Pacific
77	Serbia	41	42	40	41	42	39	Europe and Central Asia
77	Suriname	41	45	36	36	36	37	Americas
77	Trinidad and Tobago	41	35	39	38	38	39	Americas
81	Ghana	40	43	47	48	46	45	Sub Saharan Africa
81	India	40	40	38	38	36	36	Asia Pacific
81	Morocco	40	37	36	39	37	37	Middle East and North Africa
81	Turkey	40	41	42	45	50	49	Europe and Central Asia
85	Argentina	39	36	32	34	34	35	Americas
85	Benin	39	36	37	39	36	36	Sub Saharan Africa
85	Kosovo	39	36	33	33	33	34	Europe and Central Asia
85	Kuwait	39	41	49	44	43	44	Middle East and North Africa
85	Solomon Islands	39	42	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Asia Pacific
85	Swaziland	39	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Sub Saharan Africa
91	Albania	38	39	36	33	31	33	Europe and Central Asia
91	Bosnia and Herzegovina	38	39	38	39	42	42	Europe and Central Asia
91	Guyana	38	34	29	30	27	28	Americas
91	Sri Lanka	38	36	37	38	37	40	Asia Pacific
91	Timor-Leste	38	35	28	28	30	33	Asia Pacific
96	Brazil	37	40	38	43	42	43	Americas
96	Colombia	37	37	37	37	36	36	Americas
96	Indonesia	37	37	36	34	32	32	Asia Pacific
96	Panama	37	38	39	37	35	38	Americas
96	Peru	37	35	36	38	38	38	Americas
96	Thailand	37	35	38	38	35	37	Asia Pacific
96	Zambia	37	38	38	38	38	37	Sub Saharan Africa
103	Bahrain	36	43	51	49	48	51	Middle East and North Africa
103	Côte d´Ivoire	36	34	32	32	27	29	Sub Saharan Africa
103	Mongolia	36	38	39	39	38	36	Asia Pacific
103	Tanzania	36	32	30	31	33	35	Sub Saharan Africa
107	Armenia	35	33	35	37	36	34	Europe and Central Asia
107	Ethiopia	35	34	33	33	33	33	Sub Saharan Africa
107	The FYR of Macedonia	35	37	42	45	44	43	Europe and Central Asia
107	Vietnam	35	33	31	31	31	31	Asia Pacific
111	Philippines	34	35	35	38	36	34	Asia Pacific
112	Algeria	33	34	36	36	36	34	Middle East and North Africa
112	Bolivia	33	33	34	35	34	34	Americas
112	El Salvador	33	36	39	39	38	38	Americas
112	Maldives	33	36	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Asia Pacific
112	Niger	33	35	34	35	34	33	Sub Saharan Africa
117	Ecuador	32	31	32	33	35	32	Americas
117	Egypt	32	34	36	37	32	32	Middle East and North Africa
117	Gabon	32	35	34	37	34	35	Sub Saharan Africa
117	Pakistan	32	32	30	29	28	27	Asia Pacific
117	Togo	32	32	32	29	29	30	Sub Saharan Africa
122	Azerbaijan	31	30	29	29	28	27	Europe and Central Asia
122	Djibouti	31	30	34	34	36	36	Sub Saharan Africa
122	Kazakhstan	31	29	28	29	26	28	Europe and Central Asia
122	Liberia	31	37	37	37	38	41	Sub Saharan Africa
122	Malawi	31	31	31	33	37	37	Sub Saharan Africa
122	Mali	31	32	35	32	28	34	Sub Saharan Africa
122	Moldova	31	30	33	35	35	36	Europe and Central Asia
122	Nepal	31	29	27	29	31	27	Asia Pacific
130	Gambia	30	26	28	29	28	34	Sub Saharan Africa
130	Iran	30	29	27	27	25	28	Middle East and North Africa
130	Myanmar	30	28	22	21	21	15	Asia Pacific
130	Sierra Leone	30	30	29	31	30	31	Sub Saharan Africa
130	Ukraine	30	29	27	26	25	26	Europe and Central Asia
135	Dominican Republic	29	31	33	32	29	32	Americas
135	Honduras	29	30	31	29	26	28	Americas
135	Kyrgyzstan	29	28	28	27	24	24	Europe and Central Asia
135	Lao PDR	29	30	25	25	26	21	Asia Pacific
135	Mexico	29	30	31	35	34	34	Americas
135	Papua New Guinea	29	28	25	25	25	25	Asia Pacific
135	Paraguay	29	30	27	24	24	25	Americas
135	Russia	29	29	29	27	28	28	Europe and Central Asia
143	Bangladesh	28	26	25	25	27	26	Asia Pacific
143	Guatemala	28	28	28	32	29	33	Americas
143	Kenya	28	26	25	25	27	27	Sub Saharan Africa
143	Lebanon	28	28	28	27	28	30	Middle East and North Africa
143	Mauritania	28	27	31	30	30	31	Middle East and North Africa
148	Comoros	27	24	26	26	28	28	Sub Saharan Africa
148	Guinea	27	27	25	25	24	24	Sub Saharan Africa
148	Nigeria	27	28	26	27	25	27	Sub Saharan Africa
151	Nicaragua	26	26	27	28	28	29	Americas
151	Uganda	26	25	25	26	26	29	Sub Saharan Africa
153	Cameroon	25	26	27	27	25	26	Sub Saharan Africa
153	Mozambique	25	27	31	31	30	31	Sub Saharan Africa
155	Madagascar	24	26	28	28	28	32	Sub Saharan Africa
156	Central African Republic	23	20	24	24	25	26	Sub Saharan Africa
157	Burundi	22	20	21	20	21	19	Sub Saharan Africa
157	Haiti	22	20	17	19	19	19	Americas
157	Uzbekistan	22	21	19	18	17	17	Europe and Central Asia
157	Zimbabwe	22	22	21	21	21	20	Sub Saharan Africa
161	Cambodia	21	21	21	21	20	22	Asia Pacific
161	Democratic Republic of the Congo	21	21	22	22	22	21	Sub Saharan Africa
161	Republic of Congo	21	20	23	23	22	26	Sub Saharan Africa
161	Tajikistan	21	25	26	23	22	22	Europe and Central Asia
165	Chad	20	20	22	22	19	19	Sub Saharan Africa
165	Eritrea	20	18	18	18	20	25	Sub Saharan Africa
167	Angola	19	18	15	19	23	22	Sub Saharan Africa
167	Turkmenistan	19	22	18	17	17	17	Europe and Central Asia
169	Iraq	18	17	16	16	16	18	Middle East and North Africa
169	Venezuela	18	17	17	19	20	19	Americas
171	Equatorial Guinea	17	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Sub Saharan Africa
171	Guinea-Bissau	17	16	17	19	19	25	Sub Saharan Africa
171	Korea, North	17	12	8	8	8	8	Asia Pacific
171	Libya	17	14	16	18	15	21	Middle East and North Africa
175	Sudan	16	14	12	11	11	13	Middle East and North Africa
175	Yemen	16	14	18	19	18	23	Middle East and North Africa
177	Afghanistan	15	15	11	12	8	8	Asia Pacific
178	Syria	14	13	18	20	17	26	Middle East and North Africa
179	South Sudan	12	11	15	15	14	N/A	Sub Saharan Africa
180	Somalia	9	10	8	8	8	8	Sub Saharan Africa

Visit www.transparency.org/cpi for more information

Since 2012, several countries significantly improved their index score, including Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and the United Kingdom, while several countries declined, including Syria, Yemen and Australia.

Research analysis

Further analysis of the results indicates that countries with the least protection for press and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also tend to have the worst rates of corruption.

Every week at least one journalist is killed in a country that is highly corrupt.

Full research analysis: Digging deeper into corruption, violence against journalists and active civil society

No activist or reporter should have to fear for their lives when speaking out against corruption. Given current crackdowns on both civil society and the media worldwide, we need to do more to protect those who speak up.

Patricia Moreira

Managing Director

Transparency International

https://youtu.be/oHwW27kLazg

Regional Analysis

A redefining moment for Africa

Surveys• 21 February 2018

A redefining moment for Africa

Translations: FR

The newly released Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) provides a good baseline for the African Union (AU) anti-corruption efforts in 2018. This year’s theme for the AU is “Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation.” As the AU rolls out its plan, this is an important moment for Africa to take stock of the current situation.

In some ways, the CPI points to a more hopeful future for Africa. The transformations in Rwanda and Cabo Verde show that corruption is manageable with well-sustained effort. Long-term anti-corruption investments in countries like Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal are also steadily paying off. On the other hand, tackling corruption remains a herculean task for countries at the bottom of the index, like South Sudan and Somalia.

Hope for a cleaner continent

Despite being the worst performing region as a whole, Africa has several countries that consistently push back against corruption, and with notable progress. In fact, some African countries score better than some countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Specifically, Botswana, Seychelles, Cabo Verde, Rwanda and Namibia all score better on the index compared to some OECD countries like Italy, Greece and Hungary. In addition, Botswana and Seychelles, which score 61 and 60 respectively, do better than Spain at 57.

The key ingredient that the top performing African countries have in common is political leadership that is consistently committed to anti-corruption. While the majority of countries already have anti-corruption laws and institutions in place, these leading countries go an extra step to ensure implementation.

From President Paul Kagame’s strict enforcement of compliance with the leadership code in Rwanda, to President Jorge Fonseca’s open promotion of institutional transparency in Cabo Verde or President Ian Khama’s innovative approach of “mainstreaming anti-corruption” across ministries in Botswana, these countries learned what works best in their communities and pursued these tactics with commitment. These countries score 55, 55 and 61 respectively on the CPI.

Equally positive, in Mauritius, which scored 50 on the index, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth courageously embarked on a programme to improve its country score by 16 points within the next ten years.

Encouraging trends in Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal

Cote d’Ivoire, a significant improver on the CPI, increased its score by nine points from 2013 to 2017, and moved from 27 to 36 on the index. In a country where communities are heavily burdened by corruption, the government is making great strides towards alleviating this problem. During his first term in office, President Alassane Ouattara quickly followed through on his campaign promises and: 1) passed a law on the prevention and repression of corruption; 2) set up a national anti-corruption authority; and 3) pursued compliance with some international initiatives, like the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI).

Similarly in Senegal, which increased its score from 36 to 45 in the last six years, anti-corruption efforts also improved. Shortly after assuming office in 2012, President Macky Sall put in place a Ministry of Good Governance and National Office against Fraud and Corruption (OFNAC). He also re-instituted Senegal’s Court for the Repression of Illicit Enrichment (CREI), among other measures. Since then, the government followed through to ensure proper facilitation and functionality of these institutions.

Low scorers: the biggest hurdle

Despite improved anti-corruption efforts in some countries, the situation continues to worsen in a few others. The lowest-scoring countries on the index are often those where there is conflict or war. Reducing corruption in these contexts is particularly challenging. The fragile nature of governments in these situations presents a real challenge to making meaningful changes. In addition, some countries that perform poorly on the index are led by African leaders that run for office on an anti-corruption ticket, but never live up to their pledges to deliver corruption-free services to their citizens.

This scenario is all too common across the continent and makes it difficult to combat corruption effectively. For example, since 2012, Liberia declined 10 points on the CPI. In her final state-of-the-nation address, former President Sirleaf Johnson admitted that her administration did not deliver on its anti-corruption pledge. Her tenure was marred by accusations of nepotism, illegal contracts and impunity for her cabinet ministers.

Call to action

In the quest to win the fight against corruption, the AU will need to call for visible commitment to anti-corruption from all of its leaders. In addition, the AU should consider investment in countries that historically struggle with anti-corruption efforts and show little to no progress. This includes countries like Malawi and Guinea Bissau that continue to decline significantly, as well as countries like Somalia and South Sudan, which fall at the very bottom of the index and face significant governance challenges.

Image: Flickr / erbeernaut

Corruption Perceptions Index 2017 shows high corruption burden in more than two-thirds of countries

Surveys • 21 February 2018

Analysis of results from Transparency International finds crackdowns on NGOs and media are associated with higher levels of corruption.

Issued by Transparency International Secretariat

An index released today by Transparency International, which marks its 25^th anniversary this year, reveals some disturbing information – despite attempts to combat corruption around the world, the majority of countries are moving too slowly in their efforts. While stemming the tide against corruption takes time, in the last six years many countries have still made little to no progress. Even more alarming, further analysis of the index results indicates that countries with the lowest protections for press and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also tend to have the worst rates of corruption.

To view the results, visit: www.transparency.org/cpi2017

The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople, uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. This year, the index found that more than two-thirds of countries score below 50, with an average score of 43.

Over the last six years, several countries significantly improved their CPI score, including Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and the United Kingdom, while several countries declined, including Syria, Yemen and Australia.

Every week a journalist is killed in a highly corrupt country

Analysis of the index results by Transparency International further examined the relationship between corruption levels, the protection of journalistic freedoms and engagement of civil society. It found that almost all journalists killed since 2012 were killed in corrupt countries.

“No activist or reporter should have to fear for their lives when speaking out against corruption,” said Patricia Moreira, managing director of Transparency International. “Given current crackdowns on both civil society and the media worldwide, we need to do more to protect those who speak up.”

The analysis, which incorporates data from the Committee to Protect Journalists, shows that in the last six years, more than 9 out of 10 journalists were killed in countries that score 45 or less on the Corruption Perceptions Index. This means that, on average, every week at least one journalist is killed in a country that is highly corrupt. In addition, one in five journalists that died were covering a story about corruption. Sadly, justice was never served in the majority of these cases.

The efforts of Transparency International and its first-hand experience working with more than 100 chapters worldwide confirm close linkages between corruption and freedom of the press. For example, in Brazil, which scored 37 on this year’s index, 20 journalists died in the last six years. Targeted for their investigations into local-government corruption and drug-related crime, among other issues, reporters in Brazil risk their lives everyday by simply doing their jobs.

Corruption linked to shrinking space for civil society

Transparency International also looked at the relationship between corruption levels and the freedom with which civic organisations are able to operate and influence public policy. The analysis, which incorporates data from the World Justice Project, shows that most countries that score low for civil liberties also tend to score high for corruption.

“Smear campaigns, harassment, lawsuits and bureaucratic red tape are all tools used by certain governments in an effort to quiet those who drive anti-corruption efforts,” said Moreira. “We’re calling on those governments that hide behind restrictive laws to roll them back immediately and allow for greater civic participation.”

Hungary, which saw a ten-point decrease in the index over the last six years, moving from 55 in 2012 to 45 in 2017, is one of the most alarming examples of shrinking civil society space in Eastern Europe. If enacted, recent draft legislation in Hungary threatens to restrict NGOs and revoke their charitable status. This would have disastrous implications for many civil society groups already experiencing the constraining effects of a previous law that stigmatises NGOs based on their funding structures.

“CPI results correlate not only with the attacks on press freedom and the reduction of space for civil society organizations,” said Delia Ferreira Rubio, chair of Transparency International. “High levels of corruption also correlate with weak rule of law, lack of access to information, governmental control over social media and reduced citizens’ participation. In fact, what is at stake is the very essence of democracy and freedom.”

About the Corruptions Perceptions Index

Since its inception in 1995, the Corruption Perceptions Index, Transparency International’s flagship publication, is the leading global indicator of public sector corruption. The index offers an annual snapshot of the relative degree of corruption by ranking countries from all over the globe. For more information, visit www.transparency.org/research/cpi

Our latest analysis, which looks at the relationship between corruption and freedom of the press, association and expression, uses statistics collected by the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters without Borders, the Varieties of Democracy Project and the World Justice Project. We are grateful to these organizations for their data.

Download supporting documents (ZIP)

For any press enquiries please contact

Jen Pollakusky/Michael Hornsby
press@transparency.org

Source –

Corruption Perceptions Index 2017

Corruption Perceptions Index 2017

Research analysis

Regional Analysis

A redefining moment for Africa

Hope for a cleaner continent

Encouraging trends in Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal

Low scorers: the biggest hurdle

Call to action

Corruption Perceptions Index 2017 shows high corruption burden in more than two-thirds of countries

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