The Bribe Payers Index by Berlin-based anti-corruption group Transparency International asked 3,000 business executives about the perceived likelihood of their companies paying bribes. The countries covered represent about 80 percent of all world trade.

The survey found the least corrupt companies to be in the Netherlands and Switzerland. China and Russia had the worst performing companies.

France was on a par with Spain and performed slightly worse than the US and UK. It was just ahead of South Korea and Brazil. 

Of the seven EU countries covered by the survey, Italy was the worst performer ranked 15th in the table.

The survey found no overall change in the frequency of foreign bribery since the 2008 survey.

The report also found a link between the likelihood of companies to bribe and the “perceptions of corruption in the public sector of that country.”

The full list (with scores in brackets, where the higher the score the less likelihood companies from that country bribe abroad):

1 Netherlands (8.8)

1 Switzerland (8.8)

3 Belgium (8.7)

4 Germany (8.6)

4 Japan (8.6)

6 Australia (8.5)

6 Canada (8.5)

8 Singapore (8.3)

8 United Kingdom (8.3)

10 United Statues (8.1)

11 France (8.0)

11 Spain (8.0)

13 South Korea (7.9)

14 Brazil (7.7)

15 Hong Kong (7.6)

15 Italy (7.6)

15 Malaysia (7.6)

15 South Africa (7.6)

19 Taiwan (7.5)

19 India (7.5)

19 Turkey (7.5)

22 Saudi Arabia (7.4)

23 Argentina (7.3)

23 United Arab Emirates (7.3)

25 Indonesia (7.1)

26 Mexico (7.0)

27 China (6.5)

28 Russia (6.1)

There is a link to the full survey here.

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