These have just been ranked the world’s most – and least – corrupt countries
New Zealand and Denmark fared best in the latest rankings of the most and least corrupt countries in the world for 2017.
The UK had an improved standing – moving from the 10th least corrupt country in the world to joint 8th. Other countries, including Syria, Yemen and Australia, declined.
The Corruption Perceptions Index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople, uses a scale of 0 to 100. A score of 0 is highly corrupt while 100 is very clean.
Two-thirds of the countries scored below 50, with an average score of 43. The report from Transparency International ranked Syria, South Sudan and Somalia the worst with scores of 14, 12 and 9 respectively.
| The least corrupt countries |
| 1. New Zealand – 90 out of 100 |
| 2. Denmark – 88 |
| =3. Finland – 85 |
| =3. Norway – 85 |
| =3. Switzerland – 85 |
| =6. Singapore – 84 |
| =6. Sweden – 84 |
| =8. Canada |
| =8. Luxembourg |
| =8. Netherlands |
| =8. UK |
Corruption perceptions index 2017
The darker the red, the more corrupt the country was ranked (Source: Transparency International)
| The most corrupt countries |
| 180. Somalia – 9 out of 100 |
| 179. South Sudan – 12 |
| 178. Syria – 14 |
| 177. Afghanistan – 15 |
| =175. Yemen – 16 |
| =175. Sudan – 16 |
| =171. Libya – 17 |
| =171. North Korea – 17 |
| =171. Guinea-Bissau – 17 |
| =171. Equatorial Guina – 17 |
| =169. Venezuela – 18 |
| =169. Iraq – 8 |
Security minister Ben Wallace said:
I am pleased that Transparency International has ranked UK as one of the least corrupt countries in the world. Our improved position clearly reflects the proactive role this government has taken to combat corruption both at home and abroad.
He added: "I am determined that law enforcement and the government should work together to drive out dirty money and its corrupting effect."