Transparency Releases 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index
Complacency in fighting corruption exacerbates human rights abuses and undermines democracy, setting off a vicious spiral.
The 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released on January 25 by Transparency International shows that corruption levels remain at a standstill worldwide, with 86 percent of countries making little to no progress in the last 10 years.
Transparency International found countries that violate civil liberties consistently score lower on the CPI. Complacency in fighting corruption exacerbates human rights abuses and undermines democracy, setting off a vicious spiral. As these rights and freedoms erode and democracy declines, authoritarianism takes its place, contributing to even higher levels of corruption.
“Human rights are not simply a nice-to-have in the fight against corruption. Authoritarian approaches destroy independent checks and balances and make anti-corruption efforts dependent on the whims of an elite. Ensuring people can speak freely and work collectively to hold power to account is the only sustainable route to a corruption-free society,” said Delia Ferreira Rubio, Chair of Transparency International.
GLOBAL HIGHLIGHTS
The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
The CPI global average remains unchanged at 43 for the tenth year in a row, and two-thirds of countries score below 50.
The top countries on the Index are Denmark (88), Finland (88) and New Zealand (88), all of which also rank in the top 10 percent in the world on the Democracy Index civil liberties score.
Somalia (13), Syria (13) and South Sudan (11) remain at the bottom of the CPI. Syria is also ranked last in civil liberties (Somalia and South Sudan are unrated).
27 countries – among them Cyprus (53), Lebanon (24) and Honduras (23) – are all at historic lows this year.
In the last decade, 154 countries have either declined or made no significant progress.
Since 2012, 23 countries have significantly declined on the CPI – including advanced economies such as Australia (73), Canada (74) and the United States (67), the latter dropping out of the top 25 countries on the Index for the first time.
25 countries have significantly improved their scores, including Estonia (74), Seychelles (70) and Armenia (49).
For each country’s individual score and changes over time, as well as analysis for each region, you can see the 2021 CPI page.
CORRUPTION, HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY
As anti-corruption efforts stagnate and deteriorate, according to Transparency International, human rights and democracy are under attack. This is no coincidence. The continued use by governments of the Covid-19 pandemic to erode human rights and democracy could also lead to sharper declines across the globe in the future.
Of the 23 countries whose CPI score significantly declined since 2012, 19 also declined on the civil liberties score. Moreover, out of the 331 recorded cases of murdered human rights defenders in 2020, 98 percent occurred in countries with a CPI score below 45.
CORRUPTION IN INDIA
While rampant corruption is happening at every step in India, the untamed bureaucrats are blatantly defying laws that are supposed to prevent corruption. The latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released on January 25, 2022 by Transparency International reveals that India is among the most corrupt countries of the world.
The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, asserts that India, with a score of just 40, is ranked 85 in the world. In other words, India is more corrupt than 84 other countries.
