How corrupt is your country?
I’ve been asked to give a lecture on anti-corruption policies to a group of Chinese Government officials. I’m not sure yet whether I’ll do it. But, as I thought about the subject, I checked out one measure of the level of corruption in different countries of the world.
Since 1995, Transparency International has published an annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ordering the countries of the world according to “the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians”. The organization defines corruption as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain”.
The latest poll covers 180 countries. The top three nations – that is, the ones with the least corruption – are New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore (all small, developed countries). The bottom three – that is, the ones with the most corruption – are Myanmar, Afghanistan and Somalia.
The UK is listed at 17th (joint with Japan), while the USA comes in at number 19 – essentially the same as Britain. And mainland China? It is only at number 79. But Hong Kong is 12th and Taiwan is 37th – so the Chinese could perhaps learn something from close to home.
You can see the full rankings here.