Overall, two-thirds of the 168 countries on the 2015 index scored below 50 points on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean).
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Brazil suffered the sharpest deterioration, tumbling to 76th place out of 168 countries, down seven positions from 2014. The Luxembourg branch of Transparency International at one point called for a national inquiry into the issue, as well as more transparency in regard to tax rulings.
The Netherlands is the 5th least corrupt country in the world, according to the 2015 corruption index by Transparency International, the worldwide corruption watchdog.
David Lewis, executive director of Corruption Watch, said: “The good news is that, for the second year in succession our score has remained the same and our ranking has improved slightly”. Larry is our main news editor. “People across the globe sent a strong signal to those in power”, it quoted TI Chair José Ugaz.
Denmark, the rating revealed, tops the perceptions index for the second consecutive year but more countries are improving than worsening even as the United States and United Kingdom reached their highest rankings ever.
North Korea, which joined the list in 2011, scored 8 out of 100 and shared last place with Somalia in 2015.
Other decliners past year included Libya, Spain and Turkey. The U.S. rose one spot this year to 16th place with a score of 76, tying with Austria.
The agency also hailed the people of Guatemala, Sri Lanka and Ghana, countries where corruption dropped significantly.
Iceland ruled the roost back in 2005-06, but its position has taken a knocking since then with public perception of corruption in Iceland worsening.
The German lobbying group’s report said that in addition to conflict and war, “poor governance, weak public institutions like police and the judiciary, and a lack of independence in the media characterize the lowest ranked countries”.
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Among countries which saw an improved ranking were Greece, Senegal and Britain.
