Transparency Int’l: Armenia ranks 95th in Corruption Perceptions Index

Sri Lanka’s neighbor, India improved in ranking in 2015 to place at the 76th place despite with the same score of 38 as in 2014.

“Pakistan should have performed better, which can be achieved by having on-ground measures for the implementation of zero tolerance policies for corruption”, he added.

“According to Berlin-based Transparency International, 68 per cent of countries worldwide have a serious corruption problem and half of the G20 are among them”.

Corruption Watch says South Africa’s global corruption perceptions index ranking for previous year has improved slightly compared to 2014.

The US rose one spot to 16th with a score of 76, tying with Austria.

The watchdog said the countries perceived to be the most corrupt tend to be in conflict; have weak institutions such as the police and the courts and lack independent media.

North Korea, which joined the list in 2011, scored 8 out of 100 and shared last place with Somalia in 2015.

Five of the top six countries are in northern Europe – Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway.

On a brighter note, the survey showed general perceptions of corruption around the world had declined past year.

For the 2015 statistics, Luxembourg actually shares the 10th spot with Germany and the United Kingdom, who also scored a respectable 81 points.

Despite so many European countries in the top ten, Transparency International said there was still a lot of room for improvement in Europe and Central Asia, which it grouped as one region. In the neighbourhood, Bhutan at rank 27 is the least corrupt and the only country ahead of India.

The unfolding Petrobras scandal brought people into the streets in 2015 and the start of the judicial process in this regard may help Brazil in its fight against corruption, TI said in a press release Wednesday. “People across the globe sent a strong signal to those in power”, it quoted TI Chair José Ugaz.