The world's 28 least corrupt countries, and where Singapore ranks

[jw5]

Even the least corrupt countries aren't squeaky clean

While the world's least corrupt countries should certainly be applauded for their levels of openness and transparency, even the most virtuous examples of good governance aren't immune to dishonest dealings.

Read on to discover the corruption issues facing the best-scoring nations on Transparency International's latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which ranks 180 countries and territories on a scale from zero (out-and-out corrupt) to 100 (squeaky-clean). All dollar amounts in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

 

[jw5]

Joint 27th least corrupt: Chile, CPI score: 67

Chile may be one of the least corrupt countries on the planet but it still has a long way to go before it can feel completely virtuous, and is "not prioritising the fight against corruption" according to Transparency International. A succession of political corruption and tax evasion scandals sparked a year of protests in the South American country, which culminated in a referendum in October 2020.
An overwhelming 78% of the Chilean people voted in favour of rewriting the country's constitution but this seems to have had little effect on corruption, with "growing organised crime" one of the nation's top concerns.

 

[jw5]

Joint 27th least corrupt: UAE, CPI score: 67

The UAE may well be the least corrupt country in the Middle East, but its record is hardly unblemished. The biggest issue the nation faces is its woefully inadequate anti-money laundering framework, with complex and opaque company and property ownership structures making it all too easy to embezzle funds in the country.
In fact, the UAE has been embroiled in several major cross-border corruption scandals over the past few years. One notable example is the Luanda Leaks affair, concerning a dossier of 715,000 emails, charts, contracts, audits, and accounts that seeks to show how the former president of Angola's daughter Isabel dos Santos built her $2 billion (£1.4bn) fortune, which has now been frozen by three separate countries. She adopted the UAE as her country of residence after the scandal.
Transparency International notes that the UAE has also begun to show "worrying signs of decline" including a reluctance amongst citizens to speak out against corruption in the face of harsh government penalties.

 

[laksaboy]

Corrupt or not corrupt, it is still an overpopulated urban shithole.

 

[jw5]

Joint 25th least corrupt: Taiwan, CPI score: 68

China might consider it a province of the People's Republic, but Taiwan – which has effectively been independent since the 1950s – has fared much better in the Corruption Perceptions Index than its neighbour.
After climbing up the rankings between 2020 and 2021, Taiwan maintained its CPI score of 68 last year. China, by contrast, scores just 45 points, but Taiwan hasn't managed to distance itself entirely. In November last year, for example, Taiwanese prosecutors announced that they'd charged a senior military officer who accepted bribes from China and even wrote a letter promising to surrender if Beijing invaded.

 

[jw5]

Joint 25th least corrupt: Bhutan, CPI score: 68

Like Taiwan, Bhutan's CPI score hasn't changed since 2020. One of the highest-scoring countries in Asia, Bhutan has won plaudits for its openness and transparency, and the Himalayan kingdom's anti-corruption commission is one of the most effective in the region.
Ironically, however, the commission itself has accountability and oversight issues that need to be addressed, according to Transparency International, and more needs to be done within the country to tackle bribery in public procurement and cross-border trade.

 

[millim6868]

Sg should be the top corrupted countries in the world ,even MPs fmget first clasd pay but 3rd class level, n slso corrupted conflict of interest using government land ,n worse MPs fuck each other for sex,lol

 

[millim6868]

I really shake head still ppl vote for them , n when u old they tell u fon expect so much but gor them as they get older the pay get higher ,lol

 

[jw5]

24th least corrupt: USA, CPI score: 69

In 2020 the US hit its lowest position on the CPI since 2012, largely due to transparency issues surrounding its multitrillion-dollar COVID-19 relief package. At 69 points, its score has increased by two points in the latest rankings. The index only covers public sector corruption, so doesn't take into account any shady activity within the private sector. In America, this can range from dubious banking practices – the US tops the Financial Secrecy Index – to industrial-scale money laundering and bribery of foreign officials.
However, there has been improvement in recent times. In January 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act in a bid to tackle money laundering and crack down on anonymous shell companies. Transparency International has also highlighted the "meaningful and appropriate accountability actions" that were taken after the Capitol riots of 6 January 2021.

 

[jw5]

23rd least corrupt: Seychelles, CPI score: 70

Seychelles, which gained four points in the 2021 rankings and maintained its score this year, is the least corrupt country in sub-Saharan Africa. Its CPI score of 70 is significantly above the regional average, which sits at just 32. Despite this, Mary De Silva, CEO of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles, has said the archipelago "cannot be complacent".
She cited a recent bill that will remove the requirement for spouses and family members of government officials to declare their assets as an example of the financial secrecy that makes Seychelles an "attractive destination for dirty money from around the world".

 

[jw5]

22nd least corrupt: Austria, CPI score: 71

Austria, identified as a country to watch by Transparency International in 2021, has dropped another place since the previous report. The nation's Achilles heel is its poor protection for whistleblowers. The country continues to lack a specific law safeguarding the rights of whistleblowers, with protections particularly few and far between in the private sector. In 2019, the coalition government collapsed after a video emerged of the far-right Austrian Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache offering to compromise himself to Russian interests in exchange for funding.
And Austria has seen more corruption investigations in recent years. In autumn 2021, then-chancellor Sebastian Kurz was investigated for the misuse of public funds and lying while testifying to a parliamentary commission. Kurz subsequently resigned as chancellor. Transparency International notes: "The government also urgently needs to move ahead with reforms to increase lobbying transparency and freedom of information – where a lack of progress was reportedly criticised by the Council of Europe's anti-corruption monitoring body."

 

[jw5]

21st least corrupt: France, CPI score: 72

They say corruption starts at the top and the adage certainly rings true in France. In March 2021, former president Nicolas Sarkozy was found guilty of bribing a judge in exchange for information about the inquiry into his own allegedly illegal campaign funds. Sarkozy was sentenced to three years in prison, two years of which would be suspended; however, he appealed the ruling.
France's corruption score has stagnated over the last decade, improving by just one point relative to last year. According to the president of Transparency International's French arm, the country has a "lack of resources allocated to justice and to the economic and financial police", and there were "worrying signals" of corruption during Emmanuel Macron's first presidential term. The latest report also highlights the Uber Files, a trove of leaked records that revealed large private companies enjoy privileged, off-the-record access to top politicians. Among the alleged offenders was Macron, who reportedly held 17 secret meetings with Uber representatives in 18 months.

 

[jw5]

Joint 18th least corrupt: UK, CPI score: 73

The UK lost five points on the index between 2017 and 2020, and has lost another five between 2021 and 2022. It's far from corruption-free. London has long been described as the money laundering capital of the world, with a loophole in UK law allowing foreign companies to buy property without revealing their identity. This leaves the country open to dirty money, and 75% of properties investigated between 2004 and 2015 had been bought through anonymous offshore companies.
In 2021 Transparency International identified the UK as one of the nations that "urgently need to act" to tackle corruption following the publication of the Pandora Papers, which revealed that $7 billion (£5.2bn) worth of UK property was purchased via these anonymous companies. And the situation hasn't improved in 2022. The latest report lists the UK as a "country to watch", citing "worryingly low" public trust in the government, the appointment of people with political connections to senior roles during the COVID-19 pandemic, and systematic bias in the awarding of PPE contracts.

 

[jw5]

Joint 18th least corrupt: Japan, CPI score: 73

A series of governmental scandals has sullied Japan's reputation over the last few years, with surveys showing that the majority of citizens believe that state corruption is a serious problem. The country has dropped one place in the CPI ranking compared to 2020. In January 2021, for example, 10 land ministry officials had their salaries cut after it was revealed that they'd been rewriting data in their monthly orders for around two decades.

 

[jw5]

Joint 18th least corrupt: Belgium, CPI score: 73

After dropping to its lowest ranking in a decade in 2020, Belgium's CPI score has been stagnant since 2021. Transparency International notes that "there is still no overarching integrity framework for ministers" in the country, and there are also limited resources available to law enforcement agencies for battling foreign bribery. In 2020, for example, Brussels-based Semlex, a company that deals in biometric documents and passports, faced accusations that it used bribes and insider deals to land contracts around the globe, particularly in Africa.
On the plus side, however, the 2022 report acknowledges that the country is ramping up investigations into the foreign bribery of Members of the European Parliament and their staff.

 

[jw5]

Joint 14th least corrupt: Uruguay, CPI score: 74

The government of Uruguay has been working hard to stamp out corruption, having passed a wide-ranging anti-money laundering law in 2018. These measures have seen the South American nation's CPI score increase from 73 to 74 in 2022. Despite this progress, however, the country remains a hotspot for corrupt individuals and organisations keen to stash away their dirty cash. There's also a lack of oversight of shell companies, which can be used to launder money and pay bribes.

 

[jw5]

Joint 14th least corrupt: Iceland, CPI score: 74

Transparency International has described Iceland as "hardly as pure as the driven snow". Despite the country's angelic image as a corruption-free paradise, it has had more than its fair share of scandals involving politicians and big businesses. The 2008 financial crisis exposed its banks' shady practices, and the former Prime Minister Geir Haarde was even put on trial, although he was only found guilty of one charge related to not holding a cabinet meeting when the situation became severe.

 

[jw5]

Joint 14th least corrupt: Estonia, CPI score: 74

Neck and neck with Uruguay and Iceland in terms of its score, Estonia is the least corrupt country in Eastern Europe by a long shot. Nonetheless, it's not without fault. In January 2021, for example, the government collapsed and Prime Minister Jüri Ratas resigned following the launch of a property-related corruption investigation into one of the country's coalition parties.
As well as that, much work is needed to toughen up the country's ineffectual financial oversight and anti-dirty money regulations, which enabled Danske Bank Estonia to pull off one of the world's biggest known money laundering scandals in the country. The shocking misconduct saw €200 billion ($243bn/£175bn) of suspicious money pass through the Estonian arm of the Danish bank between 2007 and 2015, a scandal that "continues to haunt" the country, Transparency International said in 2021.

 

[jw5]

Joint 14th least corrupt: Canada, CPI score: 74

Joining Iceland and Estonia in joint 14th place is Canada. The country might score significantly higher than its North American neighbour, but it's in no position to gloat as it has some corruption issues of its own. Along with the USA and Australia, Canada is one of the biggest fallers in the rankings, having lost 10 points over the last decade, although its CPI hasn't changed since 2021.
Currently, its anti-money laundering regulations cover only certain professions and organisations, and it's relatively easy to set up a shell company that can be used to hide away dirty money and purchase property without revealing identities. In fact, in 2020 as many as a third of the 100 most expensive properties in Greater Vancouver were owned anonymously.
Meanwhile, prime minister Justin Trudeau and former minister of finance Bill Morneau have been investigated over claims they awarded a CA$43 million ($31.9m/£26.6m) contract to an organisation that has links to their families. Only the former was cleared of wrongdoing.

 

[jw5]

13th least corrupt: Australia, CPI score: 75

Over the last decade, Australia has slipped down the rankings significantly, losing 12 points between 2012 and 2021. But the situation is improving. The latest report has seen Australia's CPI increase by 2 points, with Transparency International acknowledging that the nation is "undertaking key actions to combat corruption". These actions include the passing of legislation to establish a new anti-corruption commission in December last year.