Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International

Transparency International

Transparency International (TI) is a global movement sharing one vision: a world in which government, business, civil society and the daily lives of people are free of corruption. Through chapters in more than 100 countries and an international secretariat in Berlin, TI is leading the fight against corruption to turn this vision into reality. There is no chapter yet in India.

TI walks the talk: They are politically non-partisan and place great importance on their independence. They alone determine their programmes and activities – no donor has any input into TI’s policies. Their sources of funding are made transparent as is their spending.

TI’s Core Values are: transparency, accountability, integrity, solidarity, courage, justice and democracy.

Corruption Perception Index

Every year in January, TI publishes a Corruption Perception Index (CPI).

Based on expert opinion from around the world, the CPI measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption worldwide. Each of the surveyed countries is given a score on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean)

The 2016 results

The 2016 Index showed that, around the world, systemic corruption and social inequality reinforce each other, leading to popular disenchantment with political establishments and providing a fertile ground for the rise of populist politicians. 69% of the 176 countries on the CPI scored below 50, exposing how massive and pervasive public sector corruption is around the world. In 2016, more countries declined in the index than improved, showing the need for urgent action.

Denmark and New Zealand perform best with scores of 90, closely followed by Finland (89) and Sweden (88). Although no country is free of corruption, the countries at the top share characteristics of open government, press freedom, civil liberties and independent judicial systems.

For the tenth year running, Somalia is the worst performer on the index, this year scoring only 10. South Sudan is second to bottom with a score of 11, followed by North Korea (12) and Syria (13). Countries at the bottom of the index are characterised by widespread impunity for corruption, poor governance and weak institutions. Countries in troubled regions, particularly in the Middle East, have seen the most substantial drops this year. Qatar is the biggest decliner compared to the 2015 index with a drop of 10 scores.

India gets a score of 40 out of 100 and is ranked 79 out of 176 countries surveyed for the CPI.

The 2016 CPI Report made the following points:

·      Corruption and inequality feed off each other, creating a vicious circle between corruption, unequal distribution of power in society, and unequal distribution of wealth. It is still far too easy for the rich and powerful to exploit the opaqueness of the global financial system to enrich themselves at the expense of the public good. 

·      In too many countries, people are deprived of their most basic needs and go to bed hungry every night because of corruption, while the powerful and corrupt enjoy lavish lifestyles with impunity.

·      People are fed up by too many politicians’ empty assurances to tackle corruption and many are turning towards populist politicians who promise to change the system and break the cycle of corruption and privilege. Yet this is likely to only exacerbate the issue.

What needs to be done according to the Report:

·      Technical fixes to specific anti-corruption legislation are not enough. What is urgently needed are deep-rooted systemic reforms that even up the growing imbalance of power and wealth by empowering citizens to stop the widespread impunity for corruption, hold the powerful to account, and have a real say in the decisions that affect their daily lives.

·      These reforms must include the disclosure through public registries of who owns companies as well as sanctions for professional enablers who are complicit in moving corrupt money flows across borders.

(Based on information from www.transparency.org)