Transparency International has released its 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). This CPI uses 13 expert assessments and business executive surveys to rank 180 countries and territories as per their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The lowest possible score of zero denotes a highly corrupt jurisdiction while the highest possible score of 100 means that the jurisdiction is very clean.
Denmark and New Zealand occupy the first two positions with 88 points, while Syria (14), Somalia (12) and South Sudan (12) rank last. Further, while 26 countries (such as Ecuador, Greece, Myanmar etc.) have significantly improved their CPI scores since 2012, 22 countries (like Guatemala, Lebanon, Malta etc.) have significantly decreased their scores. Overall, more than 120 jurisdictions scored less than 50.
The 2020 CPI also focused on the COVID-19 pandemic since this public health crisis has simultaneously transformed into a poorly managed corruption crisis. The CPI highlights that unending corruption during the pandemic is negatively impacting all healthcare efforts and hurting the world’s democracies. The CPI reveals that countries high up on the index invest more in health care and are less likely to violate democratic regulations. For instance, Uruguay, with the highest CPI score (71) in Latin America, invests heavily in health care and was able to respond well to COVID-19. On the other hand, Bangladesh ranks low with a score of only 26. Its healthcare investments are low while the number of cases of COVID-19-related corruption is high.
To address such multifaceted crises in the future, Transparency International has advised all governments to improve their supervisory institutions to ensure resource distribution. It has also advised governments to ensure fair pricing, protect democracy and ensure universal and timely information access to the public.
Source: Transparency International