Switzerland ranks among ‘least corrupt countries’

Switzerland ranks seventh in the world in a Corruption Perceptions Index issued by the Berlin-based organization on Tuesday.

The index ranks 177 countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sectors are believed to be based on surveys of business people and country experts.

The two countries at the top — Denmark and New Zealand — are judged to be “very clean” with scores of 91, followed by Finland, Sweden, Norway and Singapore.

Switzerland’s score of 85 is down slightly from 86 in the CPI released last year.

“No country has a perfect score, and two-thirds of countries score below 50,” the Transparency International report says.

“This indicates a serious worldwide corruption problem,” the organization says.

“The world urgently needs a renewed effort to crack down on money laundering, clean up political finance, pursue the return of stolen assets and build more transparent public institutions.”

The countries perceived to be the most corrupt in the world, according to the rankings, are Somalia, North Korea and Afghanistan, each with scores of eight.

Japan ranks 18th, ahead of the US, which is tied for 19th with Uruguay with a score of 73.

Among countries with scores of less than 50 are 69th-ranked Italy (43), Brazil (42), China (40) and Greece (40).  

For more on the report, click here.