New Delhi: In a poor show, India ranked 96 out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2024, according to a Transparency International Report released on Tuesday. India’s score dropped by one point to 38 as per the latest report, whereas in 2023 it was 39.
The CPI ranks 180 countries based on their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people. The rankings are done on a scale of 0-100, where zero means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean.
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Wednesday12 Feb. 2025
Denmark is the least corrupt country in the world followed by Finland, Singapore and New Zealand, according to the CPI for 2024, which serves as a barometer of public sector misconduct worldwide.
The score of a country is a combination of at least three data sources that are drawn from 13 different corruption surveys. The data sources are collected by various institutions, including the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. A country’s rank is its position relative to the other countries in the index. Thus, ranks can change if the number of countries included in the index are added or removed. The score is therefore more important in indicating the level of corruption in that country.
Least and most corrupt nations
Pakistan has a score of 27 and ranked at 135, while Sri Lanka scored 32 with a 121 rank. Other neighbouring countries Bangladesh and China ranked 151 and 76, respectively. U.S ranked at 28 with a score of 65 and the United Kingdom ranked at 20 with a score of 71.
Denmark (score: 90) topped the list, emerging as the least corrupt country, followed by Finland (88) and Singapore (84). Other countries in the top ten list with a clean public sector include Norway, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, Luxembourg, and Netherlands.
The most corrupt country is South Sudan, with a score of eight. Syria, Venezuela, and Somalia are also facing significant challenges due to corruption in public sector.
The 2024 CPI report states that while 32 nations have made notable strides in reducing corruption since 2012, as many as 148 countries have experienced worsening corruption levels or the corruption levels have stagnated during the same period. The global average score has stayed at 43, with more than two-third countries scoring less than 50.
What kind of corruption does CPI measure?
According to the Transparency International, the CPI is measured using data sources based on manifestations of public sector corruption including bribery, officials using public office for private gains without consequences, diversion of public funds, government’s ability to contain corruption, nepotism, and red-tapism in the public sector.
Some other factors include legal protection for people who report bribery and corruption, laws to ensure disclosure of finances and potential conflict of interest by public sector officials, and access to information on public affairs.
The report said that corruption is a major threat to climate action and hinders progress in reducing emissions and adapting to the unavoidable effects of global heating. The 2024 CPI showed that corruption is a serious issue in every part of the world, but change was happening in many countries.
“Huge numbers of people around the world suffer severe consequences of global heating, as funds intended to help countries cut greenhouse gas emissions and protect vulnerable populations are stolen or misused. At the same time, corruption in the form of undue influence obstructs policies aimed at addressing the climate crisis and leads to environmental damage,” the report said.
The index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people, using a scale of zero to 100, where “zero” is highly corrupt and “100” is very clean. The 2024 report highlighted that corruption is a dangerous problem in every part of the world, but a change for the better is happening in many countries.
As per the list, in 2024, India’s overall score was 38 while it was 39 in 2023 and 40 in 2022. India’s rank in 2023 was 93. Many countries had their worst showing in more than a decade, including leading powers such as the United States and France to authoritarian nations such as Russia and Venezuela.
The US dropped from 69 points to 65 and landed in the 28th position from 24th place earlier. Other Western nations on the decline included France, which slid four points to 67 and five places to 25th; and Germany, which dropped three points to 75 and six places to 15th. It tied with Canada, which was down one point and three places. Mexico also dropped five points to 26 as the judiciary failed to take action in major corruption cases, Transparency International said.
Russia, which already declined significantly in recent years, shed another four points to 22 last year. Transparency International noted that Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has “further entrenched authoritarianism.” It said that Ukraine, while its score dipped one point to 35, “is making strides in judicial independence and high-level corruption prosecutions.”
South Sudan slid to the bottom of the index with just eight points, displacing Somalia although the latter country’s score dropped to nine. They were followed by Venezuela with 10 and Syria with 12.
Many countries with high CPI scores have the resources and power to drive corruption-resistant climate action around the world but instead, they often serve the interests of fossil-fuel companies, the report said.
