Transparency International Releases Its New Corruption Perceptions Index

On 27 January 2016, Transparency International released its 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which covers perceptions of public sector corruption in 168 countries. The CPI can be found under the following link.

Denmark (1) is once again the best-ranked country in the index, followed by Finland (2), Sweden (3), New Zealand (4), Netherlands and Norway (5). Key characteristics of the top performers include high levels of integrity among people in power, incorruptible and independent judiciaries, and high levels of press freedom.

There were no changes at the bottom of the index: North Korea and Somalia continue to share the last place (167), followed by Afghanistan and Sudan (166). Besides the prevalence of conflict and war in these countries, poor governance and weak public institutions and judiciaries are the characteristics that mark the lowest-ranked countries.

The countries of Central and Eastern Europe overwhelmingly posted improvements in the newest index. Austria improved its ranking by 7 spots to rank 16 in the 2015 CPI, while the Czech Republic (now 37 vs. 53 in the 2014 index), Croatia (50 vs. 61), Romania (58 vs. 69), Montenegro (61 vs. 76) and Albania (88 vs. 110), posted similarly notable gains. While Moldova posted a sharp decline (130 vs. 103), several CEE countries saw their rankings slip slightly: Hungary (50 vs. 47), Macedonia (66 vs. 64), Turkey (66 vs. 64).

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