Which Countries Top the Corruption List?
A listing of most corrupt & least corrupt countries of the world in 2023 according to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International.
Corruption is a major hurdle in the path of development for every country. Without corruption, the countries are not only developed but its citizens are safe and happy too. Every year Transparency International publishes a list of the countries ranking them on the basis of their corruption levels. Transparency International is an international non-government & non profit organization that aims to fight & eliminate global corruption by preventing criminal activities and inputting anti-corruption measures. It was founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank in Berlin, Germany. The countries are ranked in this list on the basis of their respective Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Transparency International calculates CPI by studying 13 different surveys & assessments from 12 different international institutions including World Bank, World Economic Forum, private risk and consulting companies, think tanks, and World Justice Project. It then scores 180 countries & territories and then ranks them accordingly. In CPI, higher the score, less the corruption. Means the country with the highest score is the least corrupt country of the year and is ranked 1st. Similarly, the country with the lowest score is the most corrupt country of the year and is ranked last in the list. It is important to know that CPI only measures public sector corruption & ignores the private sector. The 2023 CPI was released on 30th January 2024. Denmark topped the list with a score of 90. This is the sixth consecutive year Denmark has ranked 1st. According to the index, this is because of Denmark’s ‘well-functioning justice systems.’ Finland scored 87 and New Zealand scored 85 ranking them 2nd and 3rd respectively. Norway with a score of 84, Singapore with 83, Sweden with 82, Switzerland with 82, Netherlands with 79, Germany with 78, and Luxembourg with 78 completed the top least corrupt countries in the world of 2023. Venezuela, Syria & South Sudan with a score of 13 each, and Yemen with 16 came 2nd last & 3rd last respectively. But, Somalia ranked last in the list by scoring just 11 making it the most corrupt country of the world in 2023. According to the report, all these last ranking countries “are affected by protracted crises, mostly armed conflicts”. India with a score of 39 ranked 93rd in the list. The report said that India’s overall score has “remained largely unchanged”. This means that India still has a lot to do to eliminate corruption. This is possible when all of us together decide neither to be a part of corruption nor tol bear it so that India too can rank top in CPI with a high score.
