Corruption watchdog Transparency International has released a list of the world’s most and least corrupt nations.The report comes ahead of a conference in Bali this week where more than 100 countries are expected to gather for a United Nations anti-corruption conference.
Four countries from the region made it to the list of most corrupt countries in the world: Somalia and Myanmar tied in the top spot, followed by Iraq and Sudan.
The least corrupt countries in the world are Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, scoring 9.4 on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The UAE ranked 36 in the list.
The lower the CPI of a country, the higher corruption is, with 0 being the most corrupt and 10 being very clean.
Most corrupt country and CPI score
Somalia: 1.4
Myanmar: 1.4
Iraq: 1.5
Haiti: 1.6
Uzbekistan: 1.7
Tonga: 1.7
Sudan: 1.8
Chad: 1.8
Afghanistan: 1.8
Laos: 1.9
Norway: 8.7
Least corrupt country and CPI score
Denmark: 9.4
Finland: 9.4
New Zealand: 9.4
Singapore: 9.3
Sweden: 9.3
Iceland: 9.2
Netherlands: 9.0
Switzerland: 9.0
Canada: 8.7
The least corrupt countries in the world are Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, according to Transparency International.
32 comments
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January 7, 2009 at 6:06 am
Robert@PNG
E,
I can’t see PNG on this list…
Does that mean we scored a minus “something”??
R
January 7, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Emmanuel
Yo R,
Yeah that’s what surprised me too, especially after our latest infamy of Port Moresby being 5th in the World for Murder. I hate bad news about PNG and whether the figures are justifiable or not is another topic but after the murder of a friend of mine on New Years, I’m not feeling so crash hot about POM right now.
E
February 7, 2009 at 11:03 am
Jeflin
Iraq and Afghanistan are on the list of most corrupt, apparently pre- and post- US presence doesn’t make much of a difference in terms of good governance.
February 20, 2009 at 11:33 am
Andrew
I can seem to find nigeria on this list, with wide spreed corruption going on everywhere.
I want to say nigeria is the most corrupt nation in the world. go and see what government official are doing with the state money. there is mass looting of state fund in the country.
They goverment sack the former chairman of the anti corruption body because he was doing a good job. Now corruption has gone back to where it was 5 years ago. I think you have to make a proper investigation on corruption in nigeria. Thank you.
September 21, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Oye
Are you a Nigerian?
October 29, 2009 at 11:48 pm
vivian
i think you should show a little patriotism. How many people have u seen that exhibit such level of unpatriotism. if everyone starts to give details about happenings in their country, u will be very shocked at what you find.
Raise your head high and be proud that at least we made it out of the top 10 for now.
March 25, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Umar
Am a patriotic nigerian with high level of political economy decree. So, what am trying to insinuate here is the level of padigree of your research findings which to me does not commensorate with the reality on ground as regards to Nigeria position in the global corruption least. As matter of fact, Nigeria should come among the first ten, though i may ve little experience about other nations. Yet, the act is highly pivoted here.
March 26, 2009 at 1:57 am
Emmanuel
Hi Umar, the above post was taken from the Transparency International website, so definitely it is intriguing how they came up with their statistics.
The reason I posted it was because it was so different to other corruption tables that I have seen in the past. For example the Herald Tribune posted a Forbes list on 24th March this year which listed the top 2 countries as Chad and Kyrgyzstan (in that order). Whereas the above is Somalia and Myanmar.
So I’d say perhaps it depends on who is writing the list of corrupt.
September 20, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Dele
I am an American citizen, but grew and schooled in Nigeria. It is a true that Nigeria is a very corrupt country. But not seeing Nigeria on the list is good. So for Umar and Emmanuel to make comments like that shows moral corruption in them. Isn’t it good to know that Nigeria is getting better? Or would you guys like to see Nigeria on the list of corrupt nation. You guys are so unpatriotic. Shame on you. If you two guys are the real potrait of Nigeria, you have failed. Your potraits stink; ugly!!!
September 20, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Emmanuel
Dele I’m not putting down any country here, I have not singled out Nigeria as the most corrupt country in the world, even my own country has huge corruption issues.
The whole point of the post was that corruption appears to be in the eye of the beholder. That’s all.
March 28, 2009 at 11:59 am
the kavaologist
i just find it intriguing that a cluster of divergent political systems (as samples) can be collated together to form an ordering that is ultimately biased. look at myanmar for instance. it is a political system governed presently by a military junta. should it be compared with new zealand (for instance), the latter having the luxury of multi-party electoral competitions, with all the liberties that even the average civic-minded folks in myanmar dream of having? how does transparency internation (ti) expect to find a thriving check and balance system in myanmar if the political system of that country reinforces the brutal suppression of free speech and freedom of assemby – the fundamental blocks of transparent government.
likewise, somalia is effectively a failed state, without even the watchdog agencies to keeping a check on institutions of goverance! if it has watchdog agencies, they could just be centralised in mogadishu without even the slightest influence 2 km outside of that part of somalia (the outskirts of mogadishu is controlled by die-hard islamists or tribal warlords). i really don’t see the logic in comparing the netherlands and somalia.
perhaps a third world-first world categorization could have been feasible, taking into consideration the stages of countries political institutions and the types of ruling regimes or political systems of these countries!
those who came up with this survey do no justice to “late-comers” to the state-system and other fundamental issues of colonial history, political geography, economic endowment, and socio-cultural diversity. if we take at face value the impositions of such surveys, it reinforces the feeling that what comes from “these people” is nothing but gospel truth. these surveys take the contextual out and lump all in a heap. this is not helpful if solutions and practical measures to dealing with corruption and wider goverance issues is in need of being defined to suit local situations.
two-toea comment blo mi tasol…
March 29, 2009 at 1:45 am
Emmanuel
hey Kava, great analysis there. So perhaps it would be useful then if we could find surveys at one website or source which could list the following international comparisons:
1. Population vs. Actual Votes made at the most recent National Elections
2. Population vs. Media Companies (encompassing radio, tv, newspapers, magazines and specific political websites)
3. Male politicians vs. Female Politicians
4. A tally of political systems (e.g. Westminster) and which countries are using them.
5. Living Population vs. Population killed for political reasons
6. Bureaucracy population vs. Government Departments vs. Population
7. Government Department Budgets vs. Actual Expenses
Just some ways to measure progress maybe. Not sure how feasible they are but let us know if you think there are more or better ways to measure and track development progress.
Because at the end of the day I think education and general development in itself tends to dilute corruption.
Oh and one more thing, what the hell is a ‘Corruption Perception Index (CPI)’?? How solid an indicator is ‘perception’??
March 29, 2009 at 7:55 pm
global citizen
re: the U.S. score, they most have ask republicans exclusively as there is no way that country would have scored so high if honest individuals where part of the survey.
April 2, 2009 at 10:11 am
Dr. Rajesh Chatterjee
Is it globalised corruption? If Yes, the answer is correct and if No, the answer is totally wrong. Highly educated means high corruption, on the other hand low level of literacy means High corruption, so maintain equality of social development.
April 8, 2009 at 7:15 am
Molly
I think Transparency International in this country is full of SHIT, and most people involved in the organization on a national level are just grandstanding because they’re not qualified to do anything but make some noise and raise their own profiles.m
That’s just my opinion, not trying to spark an essay writing comp, but yeah.
April 8, 2009 at 7:33 am
the kavaologist
you go girl, you are entitled to your opinion. and its obviously got nothing to do with essays and dissertations.
June 24, 2009 at 9:28 am
cian
what the hell is norway doing on the most corrupt list? it has a cpi of 8.7 it is on the wrong list
July 13, 2009 at 5:10 am
ram
I would think Australia should rank in the top most 20 corrupt. It may not be quite as bad as Nigeria, but it is worse than the Philppines. In my decades of business here and internationally, the number of Australian procurement officials that did not solicit for a bribe/backhander/kickback I can count on one hand.
July 13, 2009 at 5:35 am
What the..
Unfortunately I must say I agree with Molly.
TIPNG is comprised of a bunch of cowards who like grandstanding to lift their own profiles. That in itself IS corruption.
The only reason I got behind the Walk Againts Corruption this year was because I liked the idea of involving school children and getting them to realise the detrimental effects of corruption at this early stage in their lives. Hopefully the participants of the 3 school teams my group sponsored will mature into responsible adults in future.
As for TI, my God, they lost my respect long time ago! Someone take assertive action against corruption in this country and we will all jump onto the bandwagon.
July 29, 2009 at 6:05 am
Peter
Another good report from Ilya.
Surely a Government desperate to stay in power and afraid to face Parliament is a sure sign of corruption. Let’s just close down all democratic institutions to avoid having to answer questions!
MPs in uproar as PNG parliament adjourns
Ilya Gridneff
July 29, 2009 – 3:37PM
Angry scenes erupted in Papua New Guinea’s parliament after the government avoided a motion of no-confidence by adjourning the session until November.
MPs hurled abuse at each other across the chamber and security officers had to restrain members of the public who voiced their frustration when the government won the adjournment vote on Wednesday.
Opposition Leader and former prime minister Mekere Morauta said Prime Minister Michael Somare’s government was running scared, so much so that they broke constitutional laws to avoid the no-confidence vote.
Morauta told a media conference after the vote that parliament had only sat for 29 days and the adjournment meant they would miss the required 63 days sitting time for the year.
“Yesterday Somare said he had the numbers to block a vote of no-confidence, today he adjourned.
“The government is worried, it is fractured.
“He is afraid to face the music, the constitution, he will go down in history as someone who has threatened democracy,” Morauta said.
The opposition would go to PNG’s Supreme Court and refer Somare, Parliamentary Speaker Jeffery Nape and the leader of government business Paul Tiensten to the Ombudsman Commission for violating the constitution, he said.
Deputy Opposition Leader Bart Philemon compared Somare to “a serial rapist” and “serial murderer”.
“Somare is a leader who acts in a similar manner, demonstrating he is above the law,” he said.
Opposition member Julius Chan, also a former prime minister, said PNG was not in political limbo but “now in hell”.
Western Province Governor Bob Danaya, who has sided with the opposition, said there was a big split within government based on principle.
“They are destroying this country,” he said.
Six other government backbench members listed a series of scandals and corruption as their reasons for swapping sides.
“This has come from within the government, from us, we are dissatisfied and angry,” MP Jamie Maxtone-Graham said.
Somare on Tuesday said he had the government’s full support and the numbers to defeat a no-confidence vote.
But on Wednesday the government opted for a successful 56 to 32 vote to adjourn parliament until November 10.
A government spokesman said the adjournment was to allow for “much needed refurbishments” to parliament house.
© 2009 AAP
July 29, 2009 at 9:41 am
Emmanuel
Thanks Peter
September 14, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Interested Bystander
Norway is supposed to be first on the least corrupt list, not last on the most corrupt list.
July 29, 2009 at 10:14 am
Peter
How can they do this? What has happened to democracy and the rule of law in PNG? I am so saddened by this. I hope my wantoks can find a resolution – it seems like PG is becoming like Fiji.
July 29, 2009 at 10:23 am
Emmanuel
I don’t think our country’s ethnic composition could enable a Fiji like situation. But the Courts for the most part have been neutral so if it goes that far I still have some faith in the legal system in addressing this.
The government has done allot for big business in PNG, but too many of the deals however appear, time and time again, to be skewed towards individual interests.
August 2, 2009 at 5:08 am
ahmad naser
The corruption of a government starts from its leader such as Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, who is the President of this country is corrupt, so his whole government is corrupt. I thinkg Transparency International should place Afghanistan name at the top of corrup government list.
August 2, 2009 at 5:13 am
ahmad naser
Hamid Karzai is a corrupt leader. World should remove him as soon as possible.
August 29, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Shubhabrata
I am surprised to find the name of Switzerland in least corrupt nation. All the black money is deposited in their Banks and governments of various countries are begging in front of Switzerland government to disclose the list of illegal account.
September 7, 2009 at 6:28 am
Hughes Mileng
If we were all truly honest I think we would all admit that there is some level of corruption even in the best of us. What is corruption anyway? Well in my simple English and simple layman’s mind, corruption is seeking your own good and welfare above and at the expense of those around you. And if we were brutally honest with ourselves we would all have to admit that there were many occasions were we may have sought our own good above that of our neighbors. Nations that are the “least” corrupt are perhaps nations were the general rule and norm of that society is to seek the good of your neighbor above yourself. Nations that are perceived to be “corrupt” or “absolutely corrupt”, perhaps this thought, ideal or value may not be something that they have grown up with, see in practice or even entered their thought processes.
Is there a cure to corruption? Well perhaps my answer to my own question will have to wait for another day.
September 21, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Oye
I agree wthat everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, but i’ld like to single out comments made by both andrew and umar. this is to inform them that as long as Nigeria has people like them, the corruption level in that country will keep inflating.
September 28, 2009 at 10:31 pm
thanks
i dont seem to find cameroon on the list of the most corupt states.
dont tell me the coruption here has gotten to the level where thee officials of Transparency Int. have also started receiving bribes from our most corupt goverment to keep us at the bottom of the list.
September 29, 2009 at 10:07 pm
okunade adeniyi
Well,I’m nigerian citizen living in america,if nigeria corrupt don’t make it worse by your words,do your best to make it right,there’s no where that perfect in the world,rumor people carry carry arround at times makes things worse for foreigners to come over to nigeria even for visit,nigeria is you and you are nigeria,it might not reflect on you now but it will make one day,I love nigeria with my heart no matter what,do your best to make it good,not to spoi with your words
November 1, 2009 at 7:08 pm
sachin
INDIA is the most corrupt country in the world