Sri Lanka is Less Corrupt than India: Report

Transparency International's (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2011 shows Sri Lanka to be less corrupt than India. According to the data, China is also ranked better.

India scored 3.1 and a rank of 95; China and Sri Lanka, meanwhile, scored 3.6 and 3.3, to rank at 75 and 86, respectively. There were a total of 183 countries on the list.

Other countries in south and southeast Asia fared worse, with Bangladesh (2.7, 120), Pakistan (2.5, 134) and Afghanistan and Myanmar (1.5, 180) bringing up the tail.

Incidentally, India has, apparently, become even more corrupt than it was last year. In the 2010 list, India scored 3.3 and ranked 87.

The world's least corrupt country, in 2011, is New Zealand, which scored 9.5, while Somalia and North Korea were the most corrupt, tying for 182 with a score of 1.

The CPI ranks countries and territories according to their perceived levels of public sector corruption. It scores 183 countries and territories from zero (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean), based on data from 17 surveys that look at factors such as enforcement of anti-corruption laws, access to information and conflicts of interest.

The surveys and assessments include questions related to the bribery of public officials, kickbacks in public procurement, embezzlement of public funds and the effectiveness of public sector anti-corruption efforts.

"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," said Huguette Labelle, Chairperson of Transparency International.

Here are the top 10 least corrupt and most corrupt countries.