Relevance: Mains: G.S paper II: International Institutions and Index
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, according to experts and business people. This year’s analysis shows corruption is more pervasive in countries where big money can flow freely into electoral campaigns and where governments listen only to the voices of wealthy or well-connected individuals.
Why in news?
- Transparency International released the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI-2019).
About:
- The index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, according to experts and business people.
- It uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.
Key findings:
- The top countries are New Zealand and Denmark, with scores of 87 each, followed by Finland (86), Singapore (85), Sweden (85) and Switzerland (85).
- The bottom countries are Somalia, South Sudan and Syria with scores of 9, 12 and 13, respectively.
- India’s ranking has slipped from 78 to 80 compared to the previous year. Its score of 41 out of 100 remains the same.
- China has improved its position from 87 to 80 with a score of 41 out of 100.
- In the Asia Pacific region, the average score is 45, after many consecutive years of an average score of 44, which “illustrates general stagnation” in the region.