Singapore has slipped two places in a ranking of countries seen as being the least corrupt in the world.
It came in seventh in this year’s Corruption Perceptions Index, which is compiled by graft watchdog Transparency International (TI), after three years of taking the No. 5 spot.
The Republic’s score fell two points to 84 this year from 86 last year, according to data released by TI on Wednesday. A score of 100 means a country is perceived as being very clean while a score of zero means a country is viewed as highly corrupt.
The top five countries in this year’s index – Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden and Norway – held on to the same positions as last year. Top scorer Denmark came in with 92 points, up from 91 last year.
But Switzerland, which ranked seventh last year, overtook Singapore to be joint fifth with Norway – the position Singapore held last year.
China, Turkey and Angola were among the countries whose reputations for corruption worsened the most over the last year, TI said.
North Korea and Somalia shared last place in the index with a score of just eight.
TOP TEN:
1. Denmark 92
2. New Zealand 91
3. Finland 89
4. Sweden 87
5. Norway 86
5. Switzerland 86
7. Singapore 84
8. Netherlands 83
9. Luxembourg 82
10. Canada 81
TEN IN MID-RANGE:
12. Germany 79
14. Britain 78
15. Japan 76
17. United States 74
26. France 69
64. Turkey 45
69. Brazil 43
85. India 38
100. China 36
136. Russia 27
BOTTOM TEN:
166. Eritrea 18
166. Libya 18
166. Uzbekistan 18
169. Turkmenistan 17
170. Iraq 16
171. South Sudan 15
172. Afghanistan 12
173. Sudan 11
174. North Korea 8
174. Somalia 8
The full list will be published on www.transparency.org
Source: www.straitstimes.com
