Which Asian countries are the most corrupt?
NEW DELHI - Singapore has been placed seventh in an annual ranking of countries that are considered least corrupt by the Transparency International. But the majority of Asian countries sit in the bottom half of the Corruption Perceptions Index.
Corruption Perception Index by the Transparency International mapped 176 countries to figure out the level of corruption on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) and states that “no country is close to a perfect score in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.” Here we look at rankings of Asian countries by the latest report of Transparency International.
Singapore was the only Asian country to make the top ten of least corrupt countries in the world. In Asia, it is followed by Australia, Japan, Bhutan and Brunei.
But the majority of Asia Pacific countries are in the bottom half of the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016. Poor performance of Asian countries, according to the Transparency International, can be attributed to unaccountable governments, lack of oversight, insecurity and shrinking space for civil society, pushing anti-corruption action to the margins.
North Korea, closely followed by Afghanistan and Cambodia, is the most corrupt Asian country on the list, with a global ranking of 174.
Cambodia, for the second year in a row, is the most corrupt South East Asian country on the list. Thailand’s ranking dropped as well, reinforcing the link between perceived corruption and political turmoil.
India has marginally improved its ranking with a score of 40 and stands at 79th position but overall has a poor performance and a low rank. China has increased by 3 points but remains at a low score of 40 out of 100, with a global ranking of 79.
North Korea, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Laos, Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Maldives fall in the most corrupt countries in the world, according to Transparency International.
Globally Denmark and New Zealand were tied in first place as the world's cleanest countries, followed by Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. Somalia has held the undesirable title as the world's most corrupt country.
The report highlights that higher-ranked countries tend to have higher degrees of press freedom, access to information about public expenditure and the lower-ranked countries are plagued by untrustworthy and badly functioning public institutions like the police and judiciary.