26/01/17 - New Zealand and Denmark deemed the 'least corrupt' countries in the world start

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New Zealand and Denmark have topped the rankings as the least corrupt of 176 countries.

The annual index ranks 176 countries for their perceived corruption levels.

New Zealand has regained its top spot in a global watchdog's rundown of the most corruption-free countries in the world.

Transparency International, a Berlin-based anti-corruption organisation, uses World Bank data, the World Economic Forum and other institutions to rank 176 countries by perceived levels of corruption.

New Zealand and Denmark were jointly ranked as the two least corrupt nations but the watchdog warned about the rise of populism risking greater corruption around the world.

CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX 2016

2016 Rank

Country

2016 Score

2015 Score

2014 Score

2013 Score

2012 Score

Region

2016 Rank	Country	2016 Score	2015 Score	2014 Score	2013 Score	2012 Score	Region
1	Denmark	90	91	92	91	90	Europe and Central Asia
1	New Zealand	90	88	91	91	90	Asia Pacific
3	Finland	89	90	89	89	90	Europe and Central Asia
4	Sweden	88	89	87	89	88	Europe and Central Asia
5	Switzerland	86	86	86	85	86	Europe and Central Asia
6	Norway	85	87	86	86	85	Europe and Central Asia
7	Singapore	84	85	84	86	87	Asia Pacific
8	Netherlands	83	87	83	83	84	Europe and Central Asia
9	Canada	82	83	81	81	84	Americas
10	Germany	81	81	79	78	79	Europe and Central Asia
10	Luxembourg	81	81	82	80	80	Europe and Central Asia
10	United Kingdom	81	81	78	76	74	Europe and Central Asia
13	Australia	79	79	80	81	85	Asia Pacific
14	Iceland	78	79	79	78	82	Europe and Central Asia
15	Belgium	77	77	76	75	75	Europe and Central Asia
15	Hong Kong	77	75	74	75	77	Asia Pacific
17	Austria	75	76	72	69	69	Europe and Central Asia
18	United States	74	76	74	73	73	Americas
19	Ireland	73	75	74	72	69	Europe and Central Asia
20	Japan	72	75	76	74	74	Asia Pacific
21	Uruguay	71	74	73	73	72	Americas
22	Estonia	70	70	69	68	64	Europe and Central Asia
23	France	69	70	69	71	71	Europe and Central Asia
24	Bahamas	66	N/A	71	71	71	Americas
24	Chile	66	70	73	71	72	Americas
24	United Arab Emirates	66	70	70	69	68	Middle East and North Africa
27	Bhutan	65	65	65	63	63	Asia Pacific
28	Israel	64	61	60	61	60	Middle East and North Africa
29	Poland	62	62	61	60	58	Europe and Central Asia
29	Portugal	62	63	63	62	63	Europe and Central Asia
31	Barbados	61	N/A	74	75	76	Americas
31	Qatar	61	71	69	68	68	Middle East and North Africa
31	Slovenia	61	60	58	57	61	Europe and Central Asia
31	Taiwan	61	62	61	61	61	Asia Pacific
35	Botswana	60	63	63	64	65	Sub Saharan Africa
35	Saint Lucia	60	N/A	N/A	71	71	Americas
35	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	60	N/A	67	62	62	Americas
38	Cape Verde	59	55	57	58	60	Sub Saharan Africa
38	Dominica	59	N/A	58	58	58	Americas
38	Lithuania	59	61	58	57	54	Europe and Central Asia
41	Brunei	58	N/A	N/A	60	55	Asia Pacific
41	Costa Rica	58	55	54	53	54	Americas
41	Spain	58	58	60	59	65	Europe and Central Asia
44	Georgia	57	52	52	49	52	Europe and Central Asia
44	Latvia	57	55	55	53	49	Europe and Central Asia
46	Grenada	56	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Americas
47	Cyprus	55	61	63	63	66	Europe and Central Asia
47	Czech Republic	55	56	51	48	49	Europe and Central Asia
47	Malta	55	56	55	56	57	Europe and Central Asia
50	Mauritius	54	53	54	52	57	Sub Saharan Africa
50	Rwanda	54	54	49	53	53	Sub Saharan Africa
52	Korea (South)	53	56	55	55	56	Asia Pacific
53	Namibia	52	53	49	48	48	Sub Saharan Africa
54	Slovakia	51	51	50	47	46	Europe and Central Asia
55	Croatia	49	51	48	48	46	Europe and Central Asia
55	Malaysia	49	50	52	50	49	Asia Pacific
57	Hungary	48	51	54	54	55	Europe and Central Asia
57	Jordan	48	53	49	45	48	Middle East and North Africa
57	Romania	48	46	43	43	44	Europe and Central Asia
60	Cuba	47	47	46	46	48	Americas
60	Italy	47	44	43	43	42	Europe and Central Asia
62	Sao Tome and Principe	46	42	42	42	42	Sub Saharan Africa
62	Saudi Arabia	46	52	49	46	44	Middle East and North Africa
64	Montenegro	45	44	42	44	41	Europe and Central Asia
64	Oman	45	45	45	47	47	Middle East and North Africa
64	Senegal	45	44	43	41	36	Sub Saharan Africa
64	South Africa	45	44	44	42	43	Sub Saharan Africa
64	Suriname	45	36	36	36	37	Americas
69	Greece	44	46	43	40	36	Europe and Central Asia
70	Bahrain	43	51	49	48	51	Middle East and North Africa
70	Ghana	43	47	48	46	45	Sub Saharan Africa
72	Burkina Faso	42	38	38	38	38	Sub Saharan Africa
72	Serbia	42	40	41	42	39	Europe and Central Asia
72	Solomon Islands	42	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Asia Pacific
75	Bulgaria	41	41	43	41	41	Europe and Central Asia
75	Kuwait	41	49	44	43	44	Middle East and North Africa
75	Tunisia	41	38	40	41	41	Middle East and North Africa
75	Turkey	41	42	45	50	49	Europe and Central Asia
79	Belarus	40	32	31	29	31	Europe and Central Asia
79	Brazil	40	38	43	42	43	Americas
79	China	40	37	36	40	39	Asia Pacific
79	India	40	38	38	36	36	Asia Pacific
83	Albania	39	36	33	31	33	Europe and Central Asia
83	Bosnia and Herzegovina	39	38	39	42	42	Europe and Central Asia
83	Jamaica	39	41	38	38	38	Americas
83	Lesotho	39	44	49	49	45	Sub Saharan Africa
87	Mongolia	38	39	39	38	36	Asia Pacific
87	Panama	38	39	37	35	38	Americas
87	Zambia	38	38	38	38	37	Sub Saharan Africa
90	Colombia	37	37	37	36	36	Americas
90	Indonesia	37	36	34	32	32	Asia Pacific
90	Liberia	37	37	37	38	41	Sub Saharan Africa
90	Morocco	37	36	39	37	37	Middle East and North Africa
90	The FYR of Macedonia	37	42	45	44	43	Europe and Central Asia
95	Argentina	36	32	34	34	35	Americas
95	Benin	36	37	39	36	36	Sub Saharan Africa
95	El Salvador	36	39	39	38	38	Americas
95	Kosovo	36	33	33	33	34	Europe and Central Asia
95	Maldives	36	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Asia Pacific
95	Sri Lanka	36	37	38	37	40	Asia Pacific
101	Gabon	35	34	37	34	35	Sub Saharan Africa
101	Niger	35	34	35	34	33	Sub Saharan Africa
101	Peru	35	36	38	38	38	Americas
101	Philippines	35	35	38	36	34	Asia Pacific
101	Thailand	35	38	38	35	37	Asia Pacific
101	Timor-Leste	35	28	28	30	33	Asia Pacific
101	Trinidad and Tobago	35	39	38	38	39	Americas
108	Algeria	34	36	36	36	34	Middle East and North Africa
108	Côte d´Ivoire	34	32	32	27	29	Sub Saharan Africa
108	Egypt	34	36	37	32	32	Middle East and North Africa
108	Ethiopia	34	33	33	33	33	Sub Saharan Africa
108	Guyana	34	29	30	27	28	Americas
113	Armenia	33	35	37	36	34	Europe and Central Asia
113	Bolivia	33	34	35	34	34	Americas
113	Vietnam	33	31	31	31	31	Asia Pacific
116	Mali	32	35	32	28	34	Sub Saharan Africa
116	Pakistan	32	30	29	28	27	Asia Pacific
116	Tanzania	32	30	31	33	35	Sub Saharan Africa
116	Togo	32	32	29	29	30	Sub Saharan Africa
120	Dominican Republic	31	33	32	29	32	Americas
120	Ecuador	31	32	33	35	32	Americas
120	Malawi	31	31	33	37	37	Sub Saharan Africa
123	Azerbaijan	30	29	29	28	27	Europe and Central Asia
123	Djibouti	30	34	34	36	36	Sub Saharan Africa
123	Honduras	30	31	29	26	28	Americas
123	Laos	30	25	25	26	21	Asia Pacific
123	Mexico	30	35	35	34	34	Americas
123	Moldova	30	33	35	35	36	Europe and Central Asia
123	Paraguay	30	27	24	24	25	Americas
123	Sierra Leone	30	29	31	30	31	Sub Saharan Africa
131	Iran	29	27	27	25	28	Middle East and North Africa
131	Kazakhstan	29	28	29	26	28	Europe and Central Asia
131	Nepal	29	27	29	31	27	Asia Pacific
131	Russia	29	29	27	28	28	Europe and Central Asia
131	Ukraine	29	27	26	25	26	Europe and Central Asia
136	Guatemala	28	28	32	29	33	Americas
136	Kyrgyzstan	28	28	27	24	24	Europe and Central Asia
136	Lebanon	28	28	27	28	30	Middle East and North Africa
136	Myanmar	28	22	21	21	15	Asia Pacific
136	Nigeria	28	26	27	25	27	Sub Saharan Africa
136	Papua New Guinea	28	25	25	25	25	Asia Pacific
142	Guinea	27	25	25	24	24	Sub Saharan Africa
142	Mauritania	27	31	30	30	31	Middle East and North Africa
142	Mozambique	27	31	31	30	31	Sub Saharan Africa
145	Bangladesh	26	25	25	27	26	Asia Pacific
145	Cameroon	26	27	27	25	26	Sub Saharan Africa
145	Gambia	26	28	29	28	34	Sub Saharan Africa
145	Kenya	26	25	25	27	27	Sub Saharan Africa
145	Madagascar	26	28	28	28	32	Sub Saharan Africa
145	Nicaragua	26	27	28	28	29	Americas
151	Tajikistan	25	26	23	22	22	Europe and Central Asia
151	Uganda	25	25	26	26	29	Sub Saharan Africa
153	Comoros	24	26	26	28	28	Sub Saharan Africa
154	Turkmenistan	22	18	17	17	17	Europe and Central Asia
154	Zimbabwe	22	21	21	21	20	Sub Saharan Africa
156	Cambodia	21	21	21	20	22	Asia Pacific
156	Democratic Republic of Congo	21	22	22	22	21	Sub Saharan Africa
156	Uzbekistan	21	19	18	17	17	Europe and Central Asia
159	Burundi	20	21	20	21	19	Sub Saharan Africa
159	Central African Republic	20	24	24	25	26	Sub Saharan Africa
159	Chad	20	22	22	19	19	Sub Saharan Africa
159	Haiti	20	17	19	19	19	Americas
159	Republic of Congo	20	23	23	22	26	Sub Saharan Africa
164	Angola	18	15	19	23	22	Sub Saharan Africa
164	Eritrea	18	18	18	20	25	Sub Saharan Africa
166	Iraq	17	16	16	16	18	Middle East and North Africa
166	Venezuela	17	17	19	20	19	Americas
168	Guinea-Bissau	16	17	19	19	25	Sub Saharan Africa
169	Afghanistan	15	11	12	8	8	Asia Pacific
170	Libya	14	16	18	15	21	Middle East and North Africa
170	Sudan	14	12	11	11	13	Middle East and North Africa
170	Yemen	14	18	19	18	23	Middle East and North Africa
173	Syria	13	18	20	17	26	Middle East and North Africa
174	Korea (North)	12	8	8	8	8	Asia Pacific
175	South Sudan	11	15	15	14	N/A	Sub Saharan Africa
176	Somalia	10	8	8	8	8	Sub Saharan Africa

Visit www.transparency.org/cpi for more information.

The organisation said many other countries had slipped down the rankings and scored lower than previous years.

READ MORE:

New Zealand has ranked high in the annual list since it was started in the mid-1990s, and was the least corrupt country, or joint leader, in the rankings for seven consecutive years. But, Aotearoa slipped down the rankings in 2015 and 2014.

Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, score consistently high rankings.

The 2016 rankings put New Zealand and Denmark in joint first place with a score of 90, followed by Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, Netherlands, Canada, and Germany.

At the bottom of the index, Somalia was ranked the most corrupt country. Other countries with lower rankings - which typically point to badly performing public institutions, bribery or corruption - were Syria, South Sudan, North Korea, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

Despite New Zealand's climb up the rankings, the organisation was at pains to point out no country gets close to a perfect score.

Transparency International said populist leaders like US President Donald Trump and French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen regularly drew links between a "corrupt elite" and the marginalisation of working people. But anti-establishment parties generally failed to address corruption once in office, the group said.

"In the case of Donald Trump, the first signs of such a betrayal of his promises are already there," the organisation's research chief Finn Heinrich wrote in a blog about the report.

He said Trump was talking about "rolling back key anti-corruption legislation and ignoring potential conflicts of interest that will exacerbate, not control, corruption."

The report came two days after constitutional and ethics lawyers filed a lawsuit alleging Trump was "submerged in conflicts of interest". Trump dismissed the allegations and said the lawsuit filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington was "without merit".

BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said corruption destroyed honest business and prosperity.

"New Zealand's reputation for honesty, transparency and justice is a great advantage in conducting international trade and other dealings.

"We need to continue to uphold our standards and institutions and maintain this enviable position."

Transparency International's annual report said Qatar showed the biggest drop in confidence in 2016 after scandals involving FIFA and reports of human rights abuses.

Somalia was the worst performer on the list for the tenth consecutive year.

The report highlighted pervasive public sector corruption around the world.

Sixty-nine percent of 176 countries scored below 50 on the index scale of 0 to 100, with 0 perceived to be highly corrupt and 100 considered "very clean."

More countries declined in the index than improved in 2016.

Once in place, populist leaders appeared almost "immune to challenges about corrupt behaviour," Heinrich wrote.

The scores of Hungary and Turkey - countries with autocratic leaders - fell in recent years, for example. Argentina, which ousted a populist government, saw its score improve.

To break the "vicious circle" between corruption and the unequal distribution of power and wealth in societies, governments should stop the revolving door between business leaders and high-ranking government positions.

The organisation also called for greater controls on banks and other businesses that helped launder money, and moves to ban secret companies that hide the identities of their real owners.

(Source: Stuff )

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