Corruption survey: worst scores in decade, South Sudan at bottom

An index released Tuesday showed many countries' worst showing in more than a decade. The index serves as a barometer of public sector corruption worldwide, ranging from leading powers such as the United States and France to authoritarian nations such as Russia and Venezuela.

Transparency International, which compiles the annual Corruption Perceptions Index, found that 47 countries out of the 180 it surveyed had their lowest score last year since it started using its current methodology for its global ranking in 2012. It said of its 2024 survey that “global corruption levels remain alarmingly high, with efforts to reduce them faltering.”

The group also pointed to worldwide risks from corruption to efforts to combat climate change. It said that a lack of transparency and accountability mechanisms increases the risk of climate funds being embezzled or misused, while “undue influence,” often from the private sector, obstructs the approval of ambitious policies.

The organization measures the perception of public sector corruption according to 13 data sources, including the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and private risk and consulting companies. It ranks 180 countries and territories on a scale from a “highly corrupt” 0 to a “very clean” 100.

The global average remained unchanged from 2023 at 43, with more than two-thirds of countries scoring under 50, Transparency International said. Denmark held on to first place with an unchanged 90 points, followed by Finland with 88 and Singapore with 84. New Zealand dropped from third to fourth, shedding two points to 83.

South Sudan slid to the bottom of the index with just eight points, displacing Somalia although the latter country's score dropped to nine. They were followed by Venezuela with 10 and Syria with 12.

The U.S. slid from 69 points to 65 and from 24th place to 28th. Transparency International pointed to criticism of its judicial branch. It noted that the U.S. Supreme Court adopted its first code of ethics in 2023, “but serious questions remain about the lack of meaningful, objective enforcement mechanisms and the strength of the new rules themselves.”

Other Western nations on the decline included France, which dropped four points to 67 and five places to 25th; and Germany, down three points to 75 and six places to 15th. It tied with Canada, which was down one point and three places.

Mexico dropped five points to 26 as the judiciary failed to take action in major corruption cases, Transparency International said.

“Despite former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s promises to tackle corruption and return stolen assets to the people, his six-year term ended without any convictions or recovered assets,” it added.

In Europe, Slovakia dropped five points to 49 in the first full year of Prime Minister Robert Fico's government, “as numerous reforms erode anti-corruption checks and bypass public consultation.”

Russia, which already declined significantly in recent years, shed another four points to 22 last year. Transparency International noted that Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has “further entrenched authoritarianism.” It said that Ukraine, while its score dipped one point to 35, “is making strides in judicial independence and high-level corruption prosecutions.”

In the Middle East and North Africa, the situation of anti-corruption efforts “remains bleak” as political leaders exert near-absolute control while benefiting from wealth and clamping down on dissent, the group said. But it said that “unforeseen opportunities are also emerging,” for example in the wake of the fall of President Bashar Assad's government in Syria. Sub-Saharan Africa had the lowest average score of any region, at 33.

In Asia and the Pacific, governments “are still failing to deliver on anti-corruption pledges,” Transparency International said.