Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

India Ranks 85th Among 180 Countries In Global Corruption Index 2021

Daniel Eriksson, CEO, Transparency International said, “It is the power held by teachers, shopkeepers, students and ordinary people from all walks of life that will ultimately deliver accountability.”
January 26, 2022
corruption in india

The global anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International has published its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2021, revealing that the corruption levels are at a worldwide standstill.

The agency lists countries across the world on the “perceived levels of public sector corruption”. 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).

This year, the global average remains unchanged for the tenth year in a row, at just 43 out of a possible 100 points. Despite multiple commitments, 131 countries have made no significant progress against corruption in the last decade. Two-thirds of countries score below 50, indicating that they have serious corruption problems, while 27 countries are at their lowest score ever.

Among those with weak scores are some of the world’s most populous countries such as China (45) and India (40), and other large economies such as Indonesia (38) and Bangladesh (26), the report by the anti-corruption watchdog said.

Pakistan scored 28/100 to rank 140 in the list with Myanmar. Denmark, Finland and New Zealand were ranked the least corrupt scoring 88 finishing on top followed closely by Norway, Singapore and Sweden who scored 85 points.

To come up with Corruption Perception Index (CPI), the following manifestations of corruption in the public sector are taken into consideration: bribery, diversion of public funds, officials using their public office for private gain without facing consequences, ability of governments to contain corruption in the public sector, excessive red tape in the public sector may increase opportunities for corruption, nepotistic appointments in the civil service, laws ensuring that public officials must disclose their finances and potential conflicts of interest, legal protection for people who report cases of bribery and corruption, state capture by narrow vested interests, and access to information on public affairs/government activities.

Daniel Eriksson, CEO, Transparency International Secretariat said, “In authoritarian contexts where control over government, business and the media rests with a few, social movements remain the last check on power. It is the power held by teachers, shopkeepers, students and ordinary people from all walks of life that will ultimately deliver accountability.”

While corruption takes vastly different forms from country to country, this year’s scores reveal that all regions of the globe are at a standstill when it comes to fighting public sector corruption.