Corruption Perceptions Index 2018 Ranks Somalia As The Most Corrupt Country In The World

A corruption watchdog has ranked Somalia as the most corrupt country in the world. The 2018’s Corruption Perceptions Index compiled by Berlin-based Transparency International has rated 180 countries and territories around the world on how corrupt their administrative and political institutions are perceived to be.

The index measured the level of public sector corruption on the basis of expert assessments and surveys of business executives in each country using a scale of 1 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 means very clean.

The annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) of 2018 ranked Denmark as the world least corrupt country scoring 88 out of 100 points, followed by New Zealand, Finland, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, the Netherlands, Canada and Luxembourg rounding off the least corrupted top 10 countries list, reported Yahoo News.

According to Transparency International, the top-performing countries have several democratic attributes in common that lead to their high scores. Those attributes include strong institutions, rule of law and high levels of economic development.

Somalia ranked last with a mere 10 points, behind South Sudan and Syria. Notably, South Africa scored among the least corrupt countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which is touted as to be the most corrupt region in the world.

Estonia, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Guyana’s ranking were found to have improved the most since 2012. Australia, Chile, and Malta’s ranking decreased this year owing to corruption activities. Ranking 22^nd in the list, the United States was listed among the “countries to watch”. It dropped out of the top 20 on the CPI for the first time since 2011 and lost 4 points in comparison to last year possibly due to ethical norms erosion at the highest levels of power.

Delia Ferreira Rubio, chairwoman of Transparency International, claimed that corruption is much more in countries where democratic foundations are weak.