The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks 178 countries and regions based on their corruption levels, with scores ranging from zero to ten, where zero indicates highly corrupt and ten indicates very clean. Singapore ranked third last year with a score of 9.2. This year, it moved up two places to rank first, and is also the only Asian economy in the top ten.
In the 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index released by the global anti-corruption organization Transparency International, Singapore tied for first place with Denmark and New Zealand, moving up two spots from last year and remaining the only Asian economy in the top ten. The organization's "2010 Corruption Perceptions Index" awarded Singapore, Denmark, and New Zealand a score of 9.3 each. Singapore ranked third last year with a score of 9.2.
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks 178 countries and regions based on their corruption levels, with scores ranging from zero to ten, where zero indicates highly corrupt and ten indicates very clean.
Following Singapore, Denmark, and New Zealand are Finland, Sweden, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Switzerland, and Norway. Finland and Sweden tied for fourth place with a score of 9.2, while Australia and Switzerland tied for eighth place with a score of 8.7. In the Asian region, Hong Kong ranked 13th (8.4 points) and Japan ranked 17th (7.8 points).
Countries plagued by corruption include Somalia, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Iraq, where the situation is most severe. Myanmar and Afghanistan scored only 1.4, tying for 176th place, while Somalia scored only 1.1, ranking 178th.
Corruption remains a serious issue. Transparency International, headquartered in Berlin, Germany, is an independent organization. It regularly publishes the Corruption Perceptions Index and the Global Corruption Report annually. This year's index is based on a synthesis of 13 surveys on corruption conducted by 10 independent global institutions between January 2009 and September 2010.
It points out that the fight against corruption still faces significant resistance. Notably, among the 178 economies evaluated, nearly three-quarters scored below five, indicating that global corruption remains a serious problem and that government oversight and governance levels must be strengthened.
Transparency International Chair Huguette Labelle stated: "It is unacceptable to allow corruption to persist. Many of the world's poor and vulnerable are victims of corruption, so it must be fought severely." The organization believes that combating corruption should be viewed as one of the most urgent global issues, alongside addressing the financial crisis and climate change. Therefore, it calls on all countries to more strictly enforce the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
However, not all countries with corruption issues are helpless in the fight against it; countries such as Chile, Ecuador, Macedonia, Kuwait, and Qatar have shown good performance in combating corruption.
U.S. struggles in anti-corruption efforts, falls out of top 20 for the first time
The United States, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Madagascar, and Niger were rated as having ineffective anti-corruption efforts. The U.S. ranking slipped from 19th last year to 22nd, marking its worst performance since the index was first published 15 years ago, and falling out of the top 20 for the first time.
Developed countries such as Italy ranked 67th, and Greece, which is facing a government fiscal crisis, ranked 78th. China's ranking is comparable to that of Greece.
Nancy, chair of the U.S. chapter of Transparency International, said that lending practices leading to the subprime mortgage crisis, the Madoff scandal, and political donation disputes have all affected the American public's moral confidence in the U.S. We are not talking about illegal corruption, but rather that the entire system has been corrupted by these improper practices, and integrity has been weakened. Nancy pointed out that federal and local financial scandals in the U.S. have created a perception of weak government oversight, where those with influence can leverage money to exert power.
Top Ten Cleanest Economies Globally
Rank Score
1 Singapore 9.3
2 Denmark
3 New Zealand
4 Finland 9.2
5 Sweden
6 Canada 8.9
7 Netherlands 8.8
8 Australia 8.7
9 Switzerland
10 Norway 8.6
Note: Scores range from 0 to 10. 0 indicates highly corrupt, 10 indicates very clean.
Source: Transparency International "2010 Corruption Perceptions Index"
