Corruption Perceptions Index

In news– Germany based non-profit organization, Transparency International released the Corruption Perceptions Index 2021 recently.

About Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)-

Since its inception in 1995, the CPI has become the leading global indicator of public sector corruption.
The Index scores 180 countries and territories around the world based on perceptions of public sector corruption, using data from 13 external sources, including the World Bank, World Economic Forum, private risk and consulting companies, think tanks and others. 
The CPI generally defines corruption as an “abuse of entrusted power for private gain“.
At the top of the CPI, countries in Western Europe and the European Union continue to wrestle with transparency and accountability in their response to COVID-19, threatening the region’s clean image.
In parts of Asia Pacific, the Americas, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, increasing restrictions on accountability measures and basic civil freedoms allow corruption to go unchecked.
In the Middle East and North Africa, the interests of a powerful few continue to dominate the political and private sphere, and the limitations placed on civil and political freedoms are blocking any significant progress.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, armed conflict, violent transitions of power and increasing terrorist threats combined with poor enforcement of anti-corruption commitments rob citizens of their basic rights and services.
In its 2021 edition, the CPI ranked 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean), drawing on 13 expert assessments and surveys of business executives.
Comparatively, India’s score stands at 40 and is ranked 85, while Bangladesh’s stands at 147th position and Pakistan iss ranked at 140th.
The CPI global average remains unchanged at 43 for the tenth year in a row, and two-thirds of countries score below 50.
According to the report, the top-performing countries are Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, followed by Norway, Singapore and Sweden, all of them scoring 85.
In contrast, the worst-performing countries were South Sudan, followed by Syria (13), Somalia (13, Venezuela (14) and Afghanistan (16).