India ranks 85th out of 180 countries in Corruption Perceptions Index: Report

With a score of 40, India stands at 85th position in the global Corruption Perceptions Index, while its neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh fare worse.

Representational image (Pixabay)

New Delhi: India is ranked 85 out of 180 countries on the global Corruption Perceptions Index for 2021, PTI cited Transparency International report on Tuesday (January 25). 

With a score of 40, India stands at 85th position, while its neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh fare worse in the global corruption index. Pakistan has dropped 16 spots and is ranked 140th out of 180 countries, as per the report. Bangladesh's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is 26 and ranks at the 147th position.

Transparency International's report released by the Berlin-based non-profit organisation formed to combat global corruption said that "corruption levels remain at a standstill worldwide, with 86 per cent of countries making little to no progress in the last 10 years".

The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). The CPI, which came into existence in 1995, has become the leading global indicator of public sector corruption.

The top-performing countries as per the report are Denmark, Finland and New Zealand "all having a corruption perceptions score of 88". These are followed by Norway, Singapore and Sweden with all of them secoring 85, the report added. 

While the worst-performing countries were South Sudan with a corruption perceptions score of 11, followed by Syria (13), Somalia (13), Venezuela (14) and Afghanistan (16).

"As anti-corruption efforts stagnate and deteriorate, human rights and democracy are under attack. This is no coincidence. The continued use by governments of the COVID-19 pandemic to erode human rights and democracy could also lead to sharper declines across the globe in the future", the report said.

The Index-- which uses data from 13 external sources, including the World Bank, World Economic Forum, private risk and consulting companies, think tanks and others-- scores 180 countries and territories around the world based on perceptions of public sector corruption. 

(With PTI inputs)