countries compare
Which country is most corrupt? North Korea is now officially
considered the world's most corrupt country, along with Somalia. But
why has the US gone up one place and the UK's score improved? See how
the annual corruption index has changed
- Get the data [#data]
- Interactive map of this data [http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/
datablog/interactive/2011/dec/01/world-corruption-index-transparency-
international-map]
Simon Rogers and Claire Provost
Thursday December 1 2011
guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/dec/01/corruption-index-2011-transparency-international
Corruption around the world remains a deeply entrenched, global
concern according to Transparency International's 2011 Corruption
Perceptions Index (CPI) [http://www.transparency.org/cpi] - the
world's most credible measure of of domestic, public sector
corruption.
This year, two thirds of countries covered by the index were given
scores less than 5 - which means they are considered significantly
corrupt.
The CPI scores countries on a scale of zero to 10, with zero
indicating high levels of corruption and 10, low levels. And the most
corrupt places in the world are not the most surprising. Unstable
governments, often with a legacy of conflict, continue to dominate the
bottom rungs of the CPI. Afghanistan and Myanmar share second to last
place with a score of 1.5, with Somalia and North Korea - measured for
the first time - coming in last with a score of 1.
The world's most peaceful countries score the best. In the 2010 CPI,
New Zealand is top with a score of 9.5, followed by Denmark, Finland,
Sweden and Singapore.
Four countries and territories besides North Korea are included for
the first time: the Bahamas, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines,
and Suriname.
Transparency International (TI) chair Huguette Labelle says corruption
remains a major global issue, highlighted by widespread demonstrations
in 2011: "This year we have seen corruption on protestor's banners be
they rich or poor. Whether in a Europe hit by debt crisis or an Arab
world starting a new political era, leaders must head the demands for
better government."
Wealth seems no easy antidote to corruption: some relatively rich
countries, including Russia, fall at the bottom of the global league
table. Meanwhile, some of the world's poorer states do comparatively
well: Botswana, Bhutan, Cape Verde, and Rwanda all appear among the 50
"cleanest" countries.
While the index has been published annually since 1995, TI warns
against comparing scores over time, as sources for the index change
each year. However, the Berlin-based NGO notes that two general
trends pop out regardless: Arab Spring countries, and many Eurozone
countries ? particularly those affected by the financial crisis ? are
doing worse and worse.
Most Arab Spring countries rank in the lower half of the index, with
scores below 4. Many of the lowest-scoring European countries are
those hardest hit by the financial and debt crises ? including Greece
and Italy.
The UK ranks 16th, along with Austria and the Barbados, and just ahead
of Belgium and Ireland. The US ranks 24th.
The Index, which is closely watched by investors, economists, and
civil society campaigners, is based on expert assessments and data
from 17 surveys from 13 independent institutions, covering issues such
as access to information, bribery of public officials, kickbacks in
public procurement, and the enforcement of anti-corruption laws.
While critics note that measuring perceptions of corruption is not the
same as measuring corruption itself, the latter is almost impossible
to do - as the corrupt are usually keen to cover up their tracks, hard
data on graft and bribery is notoriously difficult to come by.
We've got the full data below [#data]. What can you do with it?
Download the data
- DATA: download the full spreadsheet [https://spreadsheets.google.com/
ccc?
key=0AonYZs4MzlZbdERaRzgxaUcwYXVRZFpaR3ZrekREb2c&hl=en&authkey=CIretNoB]
More open data
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www.guardian.co.uk/data-store/global-development-data/search?q=]
Can you do something with this data?
- Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr
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- Contact us at data@guardian.co.uk [mailto:data@guardian.co.uk]
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guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 201
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