Pakistan has failed to improve its ranking on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) recently published by Transparency International.
According to the details in the Transparency International report, Pakistan ranks 140th out of 180 countries with a score of 27 which is incidentally the worst in a decade. Pakistan’s score dropped to 27 from 28 last year. On the other hand, its rank remained unchanged.
To clarify, the countries and territories included in Transparency International’s survey on corruption are ranked by their perceived levels of public sector corruption — scoring on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) — on the CPI.
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“Corruption undermines governments’ ability to protect people and erodes public trust, provoking more and harder to control security threats,” the report said.
🔴 OUT NOW! The Corruption Perceptions Index 2022 shows that most of the world continues to fail to fight corruption: 95% of countries have made little to no progress since 2017. Check it out!
— Transparency International (@anticorruption) January 31, 2023
Pertinent to mention that corruption is rampant in Pakistan’s public sector. Prominent members of the government, including the incumbent Prime Minister of Pakistan, have had corruption allegations leveled against them at some point.
Interestingly, in 2018, Pakistan’s ranking was 117 out of 180 countries. In 2019, Pakistan’s ranking was 120 out of 180. In 2020, it was 124, and then in 2021, it worsened further to 140.
However, Pakistan is not the only country facing corrupt practices in the public sector. The report also notes that there was no change in India’s score, while Bangladesh’s dropped to 25 from 26 last year.
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Meanwhile, the UK slumped to its lowest-ever score in Transparency International’s global Corruption Perceptions Index. UK’s score fell sharply to 73 this year – its lowest since the Index underwent a major revamp in 2012 – resulting in a seven-place tumble in the global rankings from 11th to 18th.
On the other hand, Denmark topped the index this year, with 90 points, followed by Finland and New Zealand with 87 points each. Somalia, Syria, and South Sudan are at the bottom of the chart with 12, 13, and 13 points, respectively. Over all, the global average remains unchanged for over a decade at just 43 out of 100.