Corruption Perceptions Index
Transparency International (TI) has published the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) since 1995, annually ranking countries "by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys."[1] The CPI generally defines corruption as "the misuse of public power for private benefit".[2]
The CPI currently ranks 176 countries "on a scale from 100 (very clean) to 0 (highly corrupt)". Denmark is the least corrupt country in the world, ranking consistently high among international financial transparency, while the most corrupt country in the world is Somalia, ranking at 9 out of 100 since 2017[3]
Methods
Political corruption | ||||||||||||||
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Concepts | ||||||||||||||
Corruption by country | ||||||||||||||
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Transparency International commissioned the University of Passau's Johann Graf Lambsdorff to produce the CPI.[4]
The 2012 CPI takes into account 16 different surveys and assessments from 12 different institutions.[5] The 13 surveys/assessments are either business people opinion surveys or performance assessments from a group of analysts.[2] Early CPIs used public opinion surveys.[6] The institutions are:
- African Development Bank (based in Ivory Coast)
- Bertelsmann Foundation (based in Germany)
- Economist Intelligence Unit (based in UK)
- Freedom House (based in US)
- Global Insight (based in US)
- International Institute for Management Development (based in Switzerland)
- Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (based in Hong Kong)
- The PRS Group, Inc., (based in US)
- World Economic Forum
- World Bank
- World Justice Project(based in US)[7]
Countries need to be evaluated by at least three sources to appear in the CPI.[6] The CPI measures perception of corruption due to the difficulty of measuring absolute levels of corruption.[8]
Validity
A study published in 2002 found a "very strong significant correlation" between the Corruption Perceptions Index and two other proxies for corruption: black market activity and overabundance of regulation.
All three metrics also had a highly significant correlation with real gross domestic product per capita (RGDP/Cap); the Corruption Perceptions Index correlation with RGDP/Cap was the strongest, explaining over three fourths of the variance.[9] (Note that a lower index on this scale reflects greater corruption, so that countries with higher RGDPs generally had less corruption.)
Economic implications
Research papers published in 2007 and 2008 examined the economic consequences of corruption perception, as defined by the CPI. The researchers found a correlation between a higher CPI and higher long-term economic growth,[10] as well as an increase in GDP growth of 1.7% for every unit increase in a country's CPI score.[11] Also shown was a power-law dependence linking higher CPI score to higher rates of foreign investment in a country.
Rankings
2012–2016
Legend:
Scores | Perceived as less corrupt | Perceived as more corrupt | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
100–090 | 089–080 | 079–070 | 069–060 | 059–050 | 049–040 | 039-030 | 029–020 | 019–010 | 009–000 |
Rank | Country or Territory |
2016[14] | 2015[15] | 2014[16] | 2013[17] | 2012[18] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Score | Change in score from previous year | Score | Change in score from previous year | Score | Change in score from previous year | Score | Change in score from previous year | Score | |||
1 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 91 | 90 | ||||||
1 | 90 | 91 | 91 | 91 | 90 | ||||||
3 | 89 | 90 | 89 | 89 | 90 | ||||||
4 | 88 | 89 | 87 | 89 | 88 | ||||||
5 | 86 | 86 | 86 | 85 | 86 | ||||||
6 | 85 | 87 | 86 | 86 | 85 | ||||||
7 | 84 | 85 | 84 | 86 | 87 | ||||||
8 | 83 | 87 | 83 | 83 | 84 | ||||||
9 | 82 | 83 | 81 | 81 | 84 | ||||||
10 | 81 | 81 | 79 | 78 | 79 | ||||||
10 | 81 | 81 | 82 | 80 | 80 | ||||||
10 | 81 | 81 | 78 | 76 | 74 | ||||||
13 | 79 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 85 | ||||||
14 | 78 | 79 | 79 | 78 | 82 | ||||||
15 | 77 | 77 | 76 | 75 | 75 | ||||||
15 | 77 | 75 | 74 | 75 | 77 | ||||||
17 | 75 | 76 | 72 | 69 | 69 | ||||||
18 | 74 | 76 | 74 | 73 | 73 | ||||||
19 | 73 | 75 | 74 | 72 | 69 | ||||||
20 | 72 | 75 | 76 | 74 | 74 | ||||||
21 | 71 | 74 | 73 | 73 | 72 | ||||||
22 | 70 | 70 | 69 | 68 | 64 | ||||||
23 | 69 | 70 | 69 | 71 | 71 | ||||||
24 | 66 | 71 | 71 | 71 | |||||||
24 | 66 | 70 | 73 | 71 | 72 | ||||||
24 | 66 | 70 | 70 | 69 | 68 | ||||||
27 | 65 | 65 | 65 | 63 | 63 | ||||||
28 | 64 | 61 | 60 | 61 | 60 | ||||||
29 | 62 | 62 | 61 | 60 | 58 | ||||||
29 | 62 | 63 | 63 | 62 | 63 | ||||||
31 | 61 | 74 | 75 | 76 | |||||||
31 | 61 | 71 | 69 | 68 | 68 | ||||||
31 | 61 | 60 | 58 | 57 | 61 | ||||||
31 | 61 | 62 | 61 | 61 | 61 | ||||||
35 | 60 | 63 | 63 | 64 | 65 | ||||||
35 | 60 | 71 | 71 | ||||||||
35 | 60 | 67 | 62 | 62 | |||||||
38 | 59 | 55 | 57 | 58 | 60 | ||||||
38 | 59 | 58 | 58 | 58 | |||||||
38 | 59 | 61 | 58 | 57 | 54 | ||||||
41 | 58 | 60 | 55 | ||||||||
41 | 58 | 55 | 54 | 53 | 54 | ||||||
41 | 58 | 58 | 60 | 59 | 65 | ||||||
44 | 57 | 52 | 52 | 49 | 52 | ||||||
44 | 57 | 55 | 55 | 53 | 49 | ||||||
46 | 56 | ||||||||||
47 | 55 | 61 | 63 | 63 | 66 | ||||||
47 | 55 | 56 | 51 | 48 | 49 | ||||||
47 | 55 | 56 | 55 | 56 | 57 | ||||||
50 | 54 | 53 | 54 | 52 | 57 | ||||||
50 | 54 | 54 | 49 | 53 | 53 | ||||||
52 | 53 | 56 | 55 | 55 | 56 | ||||||
53 | 52 | 53 | 49 | 48 | 48 | ||||||
54 | 51 | 51 | 50 | 47 | 46 | ||||||
55 | 49 | 51 | 48 | 48 | 46 | ||||||
55 | 49 | 50 | 52 | 50 | 49 | ||||||
57 | 48 | 51 | 54 | 54 | 55 | ||||||
57 | 48 | 53 | 49 | 45 | 48 | ||||||
57 | 48 | 46 | 43 | 43 | 44 | ||||||
60 | 47 | 47 | 46 | 46 | 48 | ||||||
60 | 47 | 44 | 43 | 43 | 42 | ||||||
62 | 46 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | ||||||
62 | 46 | 52 | 49 | 46 | 44 | ||||||
64 | 45 | 44 | 42 | 44 | 41 | ||||||
64 | 45 | 45 | 45 | 47 | 47 | ||||||
64 | 45 | 44 | 43 | 41 | 36 | ||||||
64 | 45 | 44 | 44 | 42 | 43 | ||||||
64 | 45 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 37 | ||||||
69 | 44 | 46 | 43 | 40 | 36 | ||||||
70 | 43 | 51 | 49 | 48 | 51 | ||||||
70 | 43 | 47 | 48 | 46 | 45 | ||||||
72 | 42 | 38 | 38 | 38 | 38 | ||||||
72 | 42 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 39 | ||||||
72 | 42 | ||||||||||
75 | 41 | 41 | 43 | 41 | 41 | ||||||
75 | 41 | 49 | 44 | 43 | 44 | ||||||
75 | 41 | 38 | 40 | 41 | 41 | ||||||
75 | 41 | 42 | 45 | 50 | 49 | ||||||
79 | 40 | 32 | 31 | 29 | 31 | ||||||
79 | 40 | 38 | 43 | 42 | 43 | ||||||
79 | 40 | 37 | 36 | 40 | 39 | ||||||
79 | 40 | 38 | 38 | 36 | 36 | ||||||
83 | 39 | 36 | 33 | 31 | 33 | ||||||
83 | 39 | 38 | 39 | 42 | 42 | ||||||
83 | 39 | 41 | 38 | 38 | 38 | ||||||
83 | 39 | 44 | 49 | 49 | 45 | ||||||
87 | 38 | 39 | 39 | 38 | 36 | ||||||
87 | 38 | 39 | 37 | 35 | 38 | ||||||
87 | 38 | 38 | 38 | 38 | 37 | ||||||
90 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 36 | 36 | ||||||
90 | 37 | 36 | 34 | 32 | 32 | ||||||
90 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 38 | 41 | ||||||
90 | 37 | 42 | 45 | 44 | 43 | ||||||
90 | 37 | 36 | 39 | 37 | 37 | ||||||
95 | 36 | 32 | 34 | 34 | 35 | ||||||
95 | 36 | 37 | 39 | 36 | 36 | ||||||
95 | 36 | 39 | 39 | 38 | 38 | ||||||
95 | 36 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 34 | ||||||
95 | 36 | ||||||||||
95 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 37 | 40 | ||||||
101 | 35 | 34 | 37 | 34 | 35 | ||||||
101 | 35 | 34 | 35 | 34 | 33 | ||||||
101 | 35 | 36 | 38 | 38 | 38 | ||||||
101 | 35 | 35 | 38 | 36 | 34 | ||||||
101 | 35 | 38 | 38 | 35 | 37 | ||||||
101 | 35 | 28 | 28 | 30 | 33 | ||||||
101 | 35 | 39 | 38 | 38 | 39 | ||||||
108 | 34 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 34 | ||||||
108 | 34 | 36 | 37 | 32 | 32 | ||||||
108 | 34 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 33 | ||||||
108 | 34 | 29 | 30 | 27 | 28 | ||||||
108 | 34 | 32 | 32 | 27 | 29 | ||||||
113 | 33 | 35 | 37 | 36 | 34 | ||||||
113 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 34 | 34 | ||||||
113 | 33 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 | ||||||
116 | 32 | 35 | 32 | 28 | 34 | ||||||
116 | 32 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | ||||||
116 | 32 | 30 | 31 | 33 | 35 | ||||||
116 | 32 | 32 | 29 | 29 | 30 | ||||||
120 | 31 | 33 | 32 | 29 | 32 | ||||||
120 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 35 | 32 | ||||||
120 | 31 | 31 | 33 | 37 | 37 | ||||||
123 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 | ||||||
123 | 30 | 34 | 34 | 36 | 36 | ||||||
123 | 30 | 31 | 29 | 26 | 28 | ||||||
123 | 30 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 21 | ||||||
123 | 30 | 35 | 35 | 34 | 34 | ||||||
123 | 30 | 33 | 35 | 35 | 36 | ||||||
123 | 30 | 27 | 24 | 24 | 25 | ||||||
123 | 30 | 29 | 31 | 30 | 31 | ||||||
131 | 29 | 27 | 27 | 25 | 28 | ||||||
131 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 26 | 28 | ||||||
131 | 29 | 27 | 29 | 31 | 27 | ||||||
131 | 29 | 29 | 27 | 28 | 28 | ||||||
131 | 29 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 26 | ||||||
136 | 28 | 28 | 32 | 29 | 33 | ||||||
136 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 24 | 24 | ||||||
136 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 28 | 30 | ||||||
136 | 28 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 15 | ||||||
136 | 28 | 26 | 27 | 25 | 27 | ||||||
136 | 28 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | ||||||
142 | 27 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 24 | ||||||
142 | 27 | 31 | 30 | 30 | 31 | ||||||
142 | 27 | 31 | 31 | 30 | 31 | ||||||
145 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 27 | 26 | ||||||
145 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 25 | 26 | ||||||
145 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 34 | ||||||
145 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 27 | 27 | ||||||
145 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 32 | ||||||
145 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 29 | ||||||
151 | 25 | 26 | 23 | 22 | 22 | ||||||
151 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 29 | ||||||
153 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 28 | ||||||
154 | 22 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 | ||||||
154 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 20 | ||||||
156 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 22 | ||||||
156 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 21 | ||||||
156 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 17 | ||||||
159 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 21 | 19 | ||||||
159 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 26 | ||||||
159 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 19 | ||||||
159 | 20 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 19 | ||||||
159 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 26 | ||||||
164 | 18 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 22 | ||||||
164 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 25 | ||||||
166 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 | ||||||
166 | 17 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 19 | ||||||
168 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 25 | ||||||
169 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 08 | 08 | ||||||
170 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 15 | 21 | ||||||
170 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 13 | ||||||
170 | 14 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 23 | ||||||
173 | 13 | 18 | 20 | 17 | 26 | ||||||
174 | 11 | 15 | 15 | 14 | |||||||
175 | 10 | 08 | 08 | 08 | 08 | ||||||
176 | 08 | 08 | 08 | 08 | 08 |
2011
The 20 top countries that were ranked as having the lowest perceived levels of corruption were (note scale of 10 to 1):
# | Country | Score | # | Country | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9.5 | 11 | 8.5 | ||
2 | 9.4 | 12 | 8.4 | ||
13 | 8.3 | ||||
4 | 9.3 | 14 | 8.0 | ||
5 | 9.2 | ||||
6 | 9.0 | 16 | 7.8 | ||
7 | 8.9 | ||||
8 | 8.8 | ||||
19 | 7.5 | ||||
10 | 8.7 | ||||
Source:[19] |
The 20 bottom countries that were ranked as having the highest perceived levels of corruption were:
# | Country | Score | # | Country | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
182 | 1.0 | 172 | 1.9 | ||
180 | 1.5 | 168 | 2.0 | ||
177 | 1.6 | ||||
164 | 2.1 | ||||
175 | 1.8 | ||||
172 | 1.9 | ||||
Source:[19] |
2010
The 20 top countries that were ranked as having the lowest perceived levels of corruption were (note scale of 10 down to 1):
# | Country | Score | # | Country | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9.3 | 11 | 8.5 | ||
13 | 8.4 | ||||
4 | 9.2 | 14 | 8.0 | ||
15 | 7.9 | ||||
6 | 8.9 | ||||
7 | 8.8 | 17 | 7.8 | ||
8 | 8.7 | ||||
19 | 7.7 | ||||
10 | 8.6 | 20 | 7.6 | ||
Source:[20] |
The 20 bottom countries that were ranked as having the highest perceived levels of corruption were:
# | Country | Score | # | Country | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
178 | 1.1 | 168 | 1.9 | ||
176 | 1.4 | 164 | 2.0 | ||
175 | 1.5 | ||||
172 | 1.6 | ||||
159 | 2.1 | ||||
171 | 1.7 | ||||
170 | 1.8 | ||||
168 | 1.9 | ||||
Source:[20] |
Criticism and limitations
Because corruption is willfully hidden, it is impossible to measure directly; instead, proxies for corruption are used. Seligson states that corruption is a very "difficult phenomenon to measure", there have been many attempts to solve this problem but they've all come up with limitations.[21]
The Index has been criticized on the basis of its methodology.[22]
According to political scientist Dan Hough, three flaws in the Index include:[23]
- Corruption is too complex to be captured by a single score. The nature of corruption in rural Kansas will, for instance, be different from that in the city administration of New York, yet the Index measures them in the same way.
- By measuring perceptions of corruption, as opposed to corruption itself, the Index may simply be reinforcing stereotypes and cliches.
- The Index only measures public-sector corruption, leaving out private actors. This for instance means the Libor scandal or the VW emissions scandal are not counted.
Media outlets frequently use the raw numbers as a yardstick for government performance, without clarifying what the numbers mean. The local Transparency International chapter in Bangladesh disowned the index results after a change in methodology caused the country's scores to increase; media reported it as an "improvement".[24]
In a 2013 article in Foreign Policy, Alex Cobham suggested that CPI should be dropped for the good of Transparency International. It argues that the CPI embeds a powerful and misleading elite bias in popular perceptions of corruption, potentially contributing to a vicious cycle and at the same time incentivizing inappropriate policy responses. Cobham writes, "the index corrupts perceptions to the extent that it's hard to see a justification for its continuing publication."[25]
However, recent econometric analyses that have exploited the existence of natural experiments on the level of corruption and compared the CPI with other subjective indicators have found that, while not perfect, the CPI does appear to consistently and validly measure the magnitude of corruption across the world.[26]
In the United States, many lawyers advise international businesses to consult the CPI when attempting to measure the risk of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations in different nations. This practice has been criticized by the Minnesota Journal of International Law, which wrote that since the CPI may be subject to perceptual biases it therefore should not be considered by lawyers to be a measure of actual national corruption risk.[27]
Transparency International also publishes the Global Corruption Barometer, which ranks countries by corruption levels using direct surveys instead of perceived expert opinions, which has been under criticism for substantial bias from the powerful elite.[25]
Transparency International has warned that a country with a clean CPI score may still be linked to corruption internationally. For example, while Sweden had the 3rd best CPI score in 2015, one of its state-owned companies, TeliaSonera, was facing allegations of bribery in Uzbekistan.[28]
References
- ↑ Transparency International (2011). "Corruption Perceptions Index". Transparency International. Transparency International. Archived from the original on 19 June 2006. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
- 1 2 CPI 2010: Long methodological brief, p. 2
- ↑ Transparency International (2017). "Corruption Perceptions Index 2017". Transparency International. Transparency International. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions: TI Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI 2005)". Retrieved 22 November 2005.
- ↑ CPI 2010: Long methodological brief, p. 1
- 1 2 CPI 2010: Long methodological brief, p. 7
- ↑ Transparency International (2010). Corruption Perceptions Index 2010: Sources of information (PDF) (Report). Transparency International. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ↑ Transparency International (2010). "Frequently asked questions (FAQs)". Corruption Perceptions Index 2010. Transparency International. Archived from the original on 2011-09-02. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ↑ Wilhelm, Paul G. (2002). "International Validation of the Corruption Perceptions Index: Implications for Business Ethics and Entrepreneurship Education". Journal of Business Ethics. Springer Netherlands. 35 (3): 177–189. doi:10.1023/A:1013882225402.
- ↑ Shao, J.; Ivanov, P. C.; Podobnik, B.; Stanley, H. E. (2007). "Quantitative relations between corruption and economic factors". The European Physical Journal B. 56 (2): 157. arXiv:0705.0161. Bibcode:2007EPJB...56..157S. doi:10.1140/epjb/e2007-00098-2.
- ↑ Podobnik, B.; Shao, J.; Njavro, D.; Ivanov, P. C.; Stanley, H. E. (2008). "Influence of corruption on economic growth rate and foreign investment". The European Physical Journal B. 63 (4): 547. arXiv:0710.1995. Bibcode:2008EPJB...63..547P. doi:10.1140/epjb/e2008-00210-2.
- ↑ "2016 official table". 25 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ↑ "Official announcement". Transparency International. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ↑ "2016 table". Transparency International. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ↑ "2015 table". Transparency International. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- ↑ "2014 table". Transparency International. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
- ↑ "2013 table". Transparency International. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
- ↑ "2012 table". Transparency International. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
- 1 2 Corruption Perceptions Index 2011. Full table and rankings. Transparency International. Retrieved: 4 December 2013.
- 1 2 Corruption Perceptions Index 2010. Full table and rankings. Transparency International. Retrieved: 4 December 2013.
- ↑ Seligson, Mitchell A. "The Impact of Corruption on Regime Legitimacy: A Comparative Study of Four Latin American Countries." Journal of Politics(2002): 408-433.
- ↑ "Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index: Whose Perceptions Are They Anyway?" (PDF). 2005.
- ↑ Hough, Dan (2016-01-27). "Here's this year's (flawed) Corruption Perception Index. Those flaws are useful". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
- ↑ Werve, Jonathan (2008-09-23). "TI's Index: Local Chapter Not Having It". Global Integrity. Archived from the original on 2013-05-14.
- 1 2 Cobham, Alex. "Corrupting Perceptions". Foreign Policy.
- ↑ Hamilton, Alexander (2017). "Can We Measure the Power of the Grabbing Hand? A Comparative Analysis of Different Indicators of Corruption" (PDF). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series.
- ↑ Campbell, Stuart Vincent. "Perception is Not Reality: The FCPA, Brazil, and the Mismeasurement of Corruption" 22 Minnesota Journal of International Law 1, p. 247 (2013).
- ↑ CPI index 2015. Accessed 2016-02-03.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Corruption by country. |
- Official site
- Transparency International (2010). Corruption Perceptions Index 2010: Long methodological brief (PDF) (Report). Transparency International. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- Corruption Perceptions Index 2013
- Interactive world map of the Corruption Perception Index: 2000-2008
- A Users' Guide to Measuring Corruption critiques the CPI and similar indices.
- Global Integrity Index
- List of Global Development Indexes and Rankings