Denmark tops the Corruption Perception Index,2014

Once again it is Denmark. The country occupies the top slot in the Corruption Perception Index 2014 released by Transparency International. 

Corruption-Perceptions-Index-2010

Corruption Perception Index records the public sector corruption based on expert opinion. In its 20th report, it assessed 175 countries. The assessment is carried out on a scale 0-100, where 0 represents highly corrupt and 100 represents very clean. Denmark claimed top position with a score of 92 while the position at the opposite end is shared between North Korea and Somalia with a score of 8 each. 

“It is good that we retain the Number one position.  Our country is a small one with 5.65 million population.  We are known for our honesty, generosity and courage. Our tax rate goes up to 51.5% of income, but we are law abiding people who pay taxes promptly.”, says  Jacobson from Esbjerg, the port city of Denmark. The words itself reveal why Denmark occupy the top slot in the Corruption Perception Index on regular basis. 

Egypt, Afghanistan , Mali, Jordan and Switzerland  are among  the countries improved their ranks while countries like Turkey, China, Angola and Rwanda failed to retain even their previous ranking.  China’s score declined from 40 to 36, (Rank from 80 to 100) despite more focus on eliminating corruption. Lack of transparency in governmental activities is explained as the major reason for the decline.  According to the IMF comparison of countries based on Purchasing Power Parity, China has now become the No.1 Economic Power by replacing the U.S.A.  Hence, it is essential for China to improve the public image by improving the Rank in CPI too, to have better acceptability among investing community.

With a score of 38, India, the third Economic Power in the world has improved the ranking from 94 last year (score 36) to 85 this year. 

Transparency International (TI), with the headquarters in Berlin , Germany,  is a  non-governmental organization.  It was founded in 1993 with the objective of monitoring and publishing data on corporate and public corruption. TI has a worldwide network of  independent local chapters  with local experts.  

The corruption Perception Index (CPI) is being published annually since 1995. The report compares the perceived corruption in various countries and ranks the countries based on the perceived corruption. The definition of corruption according to TI is abuse of entrusted power for personal gain. Surveys are conducted among businessmen to arrive at the score of a country.  Lower ranking indicates more bribery, leniency towards corruption and apathy of public enterprises towards the needs of common people. 

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