Editor’s note: This article was first published in February 2012, and its scores come from Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2011 on its old 0-10 scale. The index now uses 0-100 and rankings have changed. The political details described reflect early 2012.
It’s no secret that corruption has existed all over the world, so the question isn’t which countries have or haven’t been corrupt, but which countries have been the most corrupt. Transparency International is an organization dedicated to stopping corruption. It has worked in the past with intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations. Every year it draws up a ranking of the most corrupt countries.
The ranking covers a total of 183 countries, scored from 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean) on the basis of perceived levels of public-sector corruption in each country. The countries at the top of the list, as reported by CNBC, were North Korea and Somalia, with a score of 1. However, CNBC chose to focus on the countries that companies and governments are most likely to do business with, so the list only includes developed or emerging countries. Here’s the ranking:
9. Lebanon. Score: 2.5
82% of Lebanese citizens say corruption has grown over the last 3 years. The survey also found that one in three had to pay bribes to access public services. Citizens launched a campaign called “Awakening from corruption”, the equivalent of Spain’s 15-M movement.
8. Azerbaijan. Score: 2.4
According to Transparency International, corruption is widespread in Azerbaijan. Human rights are widely abused, violence against journalists and protesters is very common, and detainees are tortured. In addition, 47% of people in Azerbaijan admit to having paid a bribe to access one of nine public services in the past year.
7. Belarus. Score: 2.4
Belarus, which became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991, is run by an authoritarian leader, President Alexander Lukashenko. Corruption is fuelled by the state’s dominance of the economy and a general lack of accountability in government. When President George W. Bush signed the Belarus Democracy Act in 2004, the government authorities responded with repression.
6. Russia. Score: 2.4
According to the global survey, of all the industrialized economies, Russia is the most likely to pay bribes. A treaty has recently been signed to prosecute any companies or organizations that pay or receive bribes, although it’s argued that this will be a difficult task, since the order to go after the corrupt would come from the government, and Russians don’t consider their politicians clean (how strange, a country with corrupt politicians?).
5. Ukraine. Score: 2.3
59% of Ukrainians believe the former Soviet republic’s efforts to fight corruption are ineffective. According to its citizens, Ukraine’s main political parties show very little political will to tackle corruption. Even so, the arrest of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko for embezzling public funds came as a surprise, although some think that of all the vultures flying in the sky, they only caught one “little sparrow”.
4. Paraguay. Score: 2.2
The current administration of this South American country has pledged to reduce corruption and increase transparency in government. However, Freedom House reports warn that the judiciary is “highly corrupt”, which makes it hard to obtain justice when the court system favours the rich and powerful. The same report warns that many corruption cases go unpunished, because the judges themselves obstruct the investigations.
3. Angola. Score: 2.0
The people have recently taken to the streets in repeated protests, because Angola is an oil-rich country where large corporations publish their profits while the country’s standard of living doesn’t improve. Angola’s population is split into 99.9% living in poverty and 0.01% with extremely high purchasing power.
2. Venezuela. Score: 1.9
According to the Freedom House report, the armed forces and the police are prone to corruption. The government’s open war on corruption is focusing on its political opponents. In addition, the media complain about constant obstacles to press freedom.
1. Equatorial Guinea. Score: 1.9
This country needs urgent attention from international bodies, because its levels of corruption are extreme. In France, the authorities seized 11 cars belonging to the Obiang family, worth more than 6 million dollars, as part of an investigation into the assets of the ruling families of Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of the Congo. Shell companies owned by the rulers were also found around the world, used as a way of laundering money.
Spain scored 6.2, Greece 3.4, Italy 3.9 and Portugal 6.1. (No comment.)
Featured image: Ventosear, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
