India slipped two places in the global corruption perceptions index (CPI) 2017 released by Transparency International (TI) on Thursday, February 22. The country, with a score of 40 out of 100, is now ranked at the 81st position among 180 nations as against the 79th position it secured in 2016 index.
India is also among the "worst offenders" in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of press freedom, high corruption, and a higher number of journalist deaths, according to the NGO.
India was in the 79th place among 176 countries in the 2016 index released by the TI. Pakistan fared much worse by ending up at the 117th position with a score of 32.
? OUT NOW! We analysed 180 countries to see how they scored in the fight against #corruption. Find out your country’s score here > https://t.co/IDyadH7his #CPI2017
— Transparency Int'l (@anticorruption) 21 February 2018
The index ranked countries and territories by evaluating their perceived levels of corruption in the public sector according to experts and business class.
Corruption perceptions index used a scale of 0 to 100, to rank countries, where zero refers to highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.
New Zealand and Denmark, with scores 89 and 88 respectively are on top of the list of global corruption perception index for 2017. Syria (score 14), South Sudan (score 12), and Somalia (score 9) received the poorest rankings on the list.
The United States now sits in 16th place with a score of 75. According to the index, the best performing region is Western Europe with an average score of 66. Sub-Saharan Africa (average score 32) and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (average score 34) are the poorest performing regions.
The 2017 index found that more than two-thirds of countries scoring below 50, with an average score of 43. It is a poor performance when compared to previous years, says the Transparency International.
"This year's corruption perceptions index highlights that the majority of countries are making little or no progress in ending corruption, while further analysis shows journalists and activists in corrupt countries risking their lives every day in an effort to speak out," the NGO noted.
