What countries have least corruption?

Corruption is when a person, who is in a position of authority, indulges in unethical or dishonest conduct for his or her own personal benefit. It involves many unethical practices such as embezzlement or bribery, which has a damaging effect on the economy of a nation. It leads to undermining investments in important sectors such as education and health, discouraging investment in the nation, and the lowering of productivity. People also stop relying on the public institutions and the confidence in the system declines. The economic growth of a country is adversely affected and poverty spreads. While some nations have taken commendable steps in tackling theses issue of corruption, many countries lag behind.

The Corruption Perception Index released by Transparency International uses a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) to estimate the situation in different countries. According to their 2017 data, New Zealand is the cleanest, or least corrupt country in the entire world, with a score of 89. The European nations Denmark and Finland are next in the index, with the scores of 88 and 85, respectively.

The United States is tied with a few other countries and comes with a score of 75. Many other nations having a score between 70 to 80 are; Australia, Hong Kong, Iceland, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Japan, Estonia, the United Arab Emirates, France, and Uruguay.

Countries which rank low on the index and are most affected by corruption are; Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Afghanistan. Cases of embezzlement and bribery are quite high in these nations, with Somalia being the worst with a score of 8.

The countries in Africa are facing immense poverty, despite having an abundance of natural resources. Part of solution is to curb corruption.

For information on the score of corruption control in each nation, refer to the table below.

RANK	COUNTRY/TERRITORY	SCORE
1	New Zealand	89
2	Denmark	88
3	Finland	85
3	Norway	85
3	Switzerland	85
6	Singapore	84
6	Sweden	84
8	Canada	82
8	Luxembourg	82
8	Netherlands	82
8	United Kingdom	82
12	Germany	81
13	Australia	77
13	Hong Kong	77
13	Iceland	77
16	Austria	75
16	Belgium	75
16	The United States	75
19	Ireland	74
20	Japan	73
21	Estonia	71
21	United Arab Emirates	71
23	France	70
23	Uruguay	70
25	Barbados	68
26	Bhutan	67
26	Chile	67
28	Bahamas	65
29	Portugal	63
29	Qatar	63
29	Taiwan	63
32	Brunei	62
32	Israel	62
34	Botswana	61
34	Slovenia	61
36	Poland	60
36	Seychelles	60
38	Costa Rica	59
38	Lithuania	59
40	Latvia	58
40	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	58
42	Cyprus	57
42	Czech Republic	57
42	Dominica	57
42	Spain	57
46	Georgia	56
46	Malta	56
48	Cabo Verde	55
48	Rwanda	55
48	Saint Lucia	55
51	South Korea	54
52	Grenada	52
53	Namibia	51
54	Italy	50
54	Mauritius	50
54	Slovakia	50
57	Croatia	49
57	Saudi Arabia	49
59	Greece	48
59	Jordan	48
59	Romania	48
62	Cuba	47
62	Malaysia	47
64	Montenegro	46
64	Sao Tome and Principe	46
66	Hungary	45
66	Senegal	45
68	Belarus	44
68	Jamaica	44
68	Oman	44
71	Bulgaria	43
71	South Africa	43
71	Vanuatu	43
74	Burkina Faso	42
74	Lesotho	42
74	Tunisia	42
77	China	41
77	Serbia	41
77	Suriname	41
77	Trinidad and Tobago	41
81	Ghana	40
81	India	40
81	Morocco	40
81	Turkey	40
85	Argentina	39
85	Benin	39
85	Kosovo	39
85	Kuwait	39
85	Solomon Islands	39
85	eSwatini	39
91	Albania	38
91	Bosnia and Herzegovina	38
91	Guyana	38
91	Sri Lanka	38
91	Timor-Leste	38
96	Brazil	37
96	Colombia	37
96	Indonesia	37
96	Panama	37
96	Peru	37
96	Thailand	37
96	Zambia	37
103	Bahrain	36
103	Côte D’Ivoire	36
103	Mongolia	36
103	Tanzania	36
107	Armenia	35
107	Ethiopia	35
107	Macedonia	35
107	Vietnam	35
111	Philippines	34
112	Algeria	33
112	Bolivia	33
112	El Salvador	33
112	Maldives	33
112	Niger	33
117	Ecuador	32
117	Egypt	32
117	Gabon	32
117	Pakistan	32
117	Togo	32
122	Azerbaijan	31
122	Djibouti	31
122	Kazakhstan	31
122	Liberia	31
122	Malawi	31
122	Mali	31
122	Nepal	31
122	Moldova	31
130	Gambia	30
130	Iran	30
130	Myanmar	30
130	Sierra Leone	30
130	Ukraine	30
135	Dominican Republic	29
135	Honduras	29
135	Kyrgyzstan	29
135	Laos	29
135	Mexico	29
135	Papua New Guinea	29
135	Paraguay	29
135	Russia	29
143	Bangladesh	28
143	Guatemala	28
143	Kenya	28
143	Lebanon	28
143	Mauritania	28
148	Comoros	27
148	Guinea	27
148	Nigeria	27
151	Nicaragua	26
151	Uganda	26
153	Cameroon	25
153	Mozambique	25
155	Madagascar	24
156	Central African Republic	23
157	Burundi	22
157	Haiti	22
157	Uzbekistan	22
157	Zimbabwe	22
161	Cambodia	21
161	Congo	21
161	Democratic Republic of Congo	21
161	Tajikistan	21
165	Chad	20
165	Eritrea	20
167	Angola	19
167	Turkmenistan	19
169	Iraq	18
169	Venezuela	18
171	North Korea	17
171	Equatorial Guinea	17
171	Guinea Bissau	17
171	Libya	17
175	Sudan	16
175	Yemen	16
177	Afghanistan	15
178	Syria	14
179	South Sudan	12
180	Somalia	9

 

Know more:

• Countries with High Crime Rates
• Best Police Forces

• Ten richest countries
• Largest population in prison

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