The annual Corruption Perceptions Index, released by Transparency International (TI), has ranked Pakistan 117 out of 180 countries in its latest report, indicating the country’s static position comparing to 2016 on the global watchdog list.
According to report, more than two-thirds of the world’s nations have high levels of corruption. Pakistan has received 32 score in the latest rankings of 2017 – while in 2016 the country had similar points on the TI index.
The global watchdog list shows Pakistan is improving score on corruption perception index, having 30 points in 2015, 29 in 2014, 28 in 2013 and 27 in 2012. The score shows Pakistan’s journey from ‘worse to better’ – though gradually. India stands 81 on the list (same as 2016), while China has 77th position with a score of 41. The annual Corruption Perceptions Index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, using a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.
This year, New Zealand and Denmark rank highest with scores of 89 and 88, respectively. Finland, Norway and Switzerland come in joint third, and Singapore and Sweden are tied in fourth position.
The UK has “significantly improved” its corruption score over the last six years, the report says. It now ranks fifth alongside Canada and Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Despite attempts to combat corruption around the world, the majority of countries “are moving too slowly in their efforts”, the organisation says. At the other end of the index, the war-torn nations of Syria, South Sudan and Somalia rank lowest with scores of 14, 12 and 9 respectively. Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan are also in the bottom five. The organisation also examined the relationship between corruption levels, the protection of journalistic freedoms and engagement of civil society.
Published in Daily Times, February 23rd 2018.