More than six billion people live in countries with a serious corruption problem.
That estimate comes from the recently released annual Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International, which ranks every country in the world based on public sector corruption.
Denmark, with a score of 91 points out of a possible 100, was determined to be the least corrupt country for the second consecutive year. Finland and Sweden rounded out the top three, respectively. Good job, Northern Europe.
Canada, meanwhile, scored a very respectable 9th place. Our neighbours to the South ranked 16th. Two-thirds of the 168 countries studied scored below 50 and the global average was 43.
On the other end of the spectrum, Somalia and North Korea tied for last place with an abysmal 8 points. Brazil’s decline – dropping five spots to 76th in the ranking – is especially concerning given this summer’s upcoming Olympics and offers a glimpse of why evaluating this metric is so critical.
While corruption isn’t always a key factor in quality of life indexes and rankings, it directly correlates with increases in poverty, human trafficking, terrorism, environmental destruction and child mortality, as well as lower education levels.
“Five of the 10 most corrupt countries also rank among the 10 least peaceful places in the world,” writes the report.
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