The anti-corruption NGO released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index today, which found that public sector corruption is still widespread and deeply entrenched around the world.
However, 2015 saw more countries cleaning up than becoming more crooked, according to the review.
No country in the world remains free from corruption, according to the analysis, and on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean), two-thirds of the 168 countries measured scored below 50.
“The 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index clearly shows that corruption remains a blight around the world,” said José Ugaz, chair of Transparency International. “But 2015 was also a year when people took to the streets to protest corruption. People across the globe sent a strong signal to those in power: it is time to tackle grand corruption.
“Corruption can be beaten if we work together. To stamp out the abuse of power, bribery and shed light on secret deals, citizens must together tell their governments they have had enough.”
Denmark took the top spot for transparency for the second year in a row, while North Korea and Somalia were the worst performers, scoring just 8 points each.
The biggest improvements came from Greece, Senegal and the UK, while Libya, Australia, Spain and Turkey all lost ground. Brazil, rocked by a high-level corruption scandal around state-owned oil firm Petrobras that has led to protests, saw the worst decline, falling by 5 points and dropping 7 positions.
But Transparency International noted that even those countries that have a clean public sector might be linked to corruption elsewhere.
Sweden for example comes third in the index, yet Transparency International noted that Swedish-Finnish firm TeliaSonera – 37% owned by the Swedish state – has been accused of paying millions of dollars in bribes to secure business in Uzbekistan.
Transparency International said its research shows that half of all OECD countries are violating their international obligations to crack down on bribery by their companies abroad.
