10 Least Corrupt Countries According to Corruption Perceptions Index

Being a Canadian call centre, we often feature various research rankings that showcase how our fair nation places on a global scale. I have explored this topic in posts like best countries to live, the smartest countries, the happiest countries, the  most peaceful countries, the most sustainable countries, the friendliest countries, the most charitable countries, the most prosperous countries, the best countries for quality of life, the best countries for business, the top countries for life expectancy, the best countries for working women, the best country for world travel & tourism, the best countries for human development, the top countries for Clean Capitalism, the best country for child well-being, the best countries from social progress, the best countries for higher education and the most popular countries. Today I’m looking at a list that may seem a little more controversial in nature by featuring the 10 least corrupt countries based on the findings of the Corruption Perceptions Index.

The Corruption Perceptions Index was first launched in 1995 by Transparency International, an organization founded in 1993 by individuals wanting to “take a stance against corruption”. This non-partisan organization “works relentlessly to stir the world’s collective conscience and bring about change” towards a world “in which government, business, civil society and the daily lives of people are free of corruption.” Transparency International now has a presence in more than 100 countries and its Corruption Perceptions Index “has been widely credited with putting the issue of corruption on the international policy agenda.”

“The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 – 100, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 100 means it is perceived as very clean.”

Why would they choose to base this important Index on perception? This is because there is no meaningful way to measure corruption, as it’s something those involved with try very hard to hide so “capturing perceptions of corruption of those in a position to offer assessments of public sector corruption is the most reliable method of comparing relative corruption levels across countries.” More than 176 countries and territories were included in this survey and according to the Corruption Perceptions Index data, the 10 least corrupt countries are:

• 1) Denmark – Score: 90. 2011 rank: 2nd
• 1) Finland – Score: 90. 2011 rank: 2nd
• 1) New Zealand – 2012 Score: 90. 2011 rank: 1st
• 4) Sweden – Score: 88. 2011 rank: 4th
• 5) Singapore – Score: 87. 2011 rank: 5th
• 6) Switzerland – Score: 86. 2011 rank: 8th
• 7) Australia – Score: 85. 2011 rank: 8th
• 7) Norway – Score: 85. 2011 rank: 6th
• 9) Canada – Score: 84. 2011 rank: 10th
• 9) Netherlands – Score: 84. 2011 rank: 7th

The United Kingdom tied with Japan for 17th place sharing a score of 74 and the USA ranked 19th with a score of 73. The worst score was 8 achieved by Somalia, Afghanistan and North Korea.

This Corruption Perceptions Index ranking holds importance to governments and demonstrates that corruption needs to be made a higher priority for many countries as you can see on this interactive wheel. “Governments need to integrate anti-corruption actions into all aspects of decision-making. They must prioritise better rules on lobbying and political financing, make public spending and contracting more transparent, and make public bodies more accountable.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNf2tv_aXNQ[/youtube]

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