With the exception of Bahrain, every country that was affected by the 2011 Arab uprisings scored less than five on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index
LONDON (TrustLaw) – Arab countries that have faced popular uprisings and countries afflicted by the Eurozone debt crisis have scored poorly in a ranking by anti-graft watchdog Transparency International (TI) that measures perceived levels of corruption.
“This year we have seen corruption on protestors’ 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 heed the demands for better government,” chair of Transparency International, Huguette Labelle, said in a statement on Thursday.
TI’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2011 (CPI) scores perceived levels of public-sector corruption in 183 countries from zero (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean). The ranking aggregates data from 17 different governance surveys.
With the exception of Bahrain, every country that was affected by the 2011 Arab uprisings scored less than five on the CPI.
Tunisia, the first Arab country to overthrow its leader in 2011, ranked 73rd place and scored 3.8, while Egypt ranked 112 and scored 2.9. Libya placed 168 and scored 2.0. All three countries fell in the ranking since last year’s CPI.
However, TI cautioned against reading too much into changes in a country’s ranking, saying that it can happen because new countries enter the index or others drop out. This year’s index included North Korea for the first time. The secretive country received a score of just 1.0 and was joint bottom of the ranking with Somalia.
Italy and Greece fared particularly poorly in this year’s CPI, scoring 3.9 and 3.4 respectively. Greece’s ranking of 80 made it by far the worst-scoring Eurozone country (Italy is the next worst) and puts it level with Morocco and lower than Lesotho (77), China (75) and Samoa (69). Italy was ranked 69 and was the lowest-ranking Group of Seven (G7) country. Although Ireland ranked high at 19, the country’s score dropped from 8.0 to 7.5 compared to last year’s index.
“Eurozone countries suffering debt crises, partly because of public authorities’ failure to tackle the bribery and tax evasion that are key drivers of debt crisis, are among the lowest-scoring EU countries,” TI said.
Heading the index is New Zealand with 9.5, followed by Denmark and Finland sharing second place with 9.4. New Zealand has topped the table every year since 2006.
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