The World's Most Corrupt Nations, 2015

Updated March 17, 2017 | Factmonster Staff

According to the annual survey by the Berlin-based organization Transparency International, Somalia, North Korea, and Afghanistan are perceived to be the most corrupt, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden are perceived to be the world's least corrupt countries. For a list of the least corrupt nations, see World's Least Corrupt Countries. The index defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain and measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among a country's public officials and politicians. It is a composite index, drawing on 13 different expert and business surveys. The scores range from 100 (squeaky clean) to zero (highly corrupt). A score of 50 is the number Transparency International considers the borderline figure distinguishing countries that do and do not have a serious corruption problem. In the 2015 survey, two-thirds of countries scored below 50.

Country
rank
Country2015
CPI Score
1.Somalia8
1.North Korea8
3.Afghanistan11
4.Sudan12
5.South Sudan15
5.Angola15
7.Libya16
7.Iraq16
9.Venezuela17
9.Guinea-Bissau17
9.Haiti 17
12.Yemen18
12.Turkmenistan18
12.Syria18
12.Eritrea18
16.Uzbekistan19
17.Zimbabwe21
17.Cambodia21
17.Burundi21
20.Myanmar22
20.Democratic Republic of the Congo22
20.Chad22
Source: Transparency International, 2013. Web: www.transparency.org .

Sources +