Corruption Perceptions Index 2016: Switzerland in Top Ten

Transparency International (TI), the world’s leading anti-corruption movement, said in its annual Corruption Perceptions Index for 2016 that in countries with populist or autocratic leaders, "instead of tackling crony capitalism, those leaders usually install even worse forms of corrupt systems."

Based on expert opinions of public sector corruption, the annual report rated Denmark and New Zealand as the least-corrupt countries, followed by Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Norway.

The island city-state of Singapore was the only Asian state to make the top ten of least corrupt countries. The United States placed 18th, down from 16th in 2015.

This year’s results highlight the connection between corruption and inequality, which feed off each other to create a vicious circle between corruption, unequal distribution of power in society, and unequal distribution of wealth.
"In too many countries, people are deprived of their most basic needs and go to bed hungry every night because of corruption, while the powerful and corrupt enjoy lavish lifestyles with impunity.” said José Ugaz, Chair of Transparency International.

Somalia, South Sudan, North Korea and Syria are perceived to be the most corrupt countries in the world, according to latest annual review. The group’s annual report said Qatar showed the biggest drop in confidence in 2016 after scandals involving the FIFA soccer scandals and reports of human rights abuses.

Researchers use a number of different data sources to compile the index, which tries to quantify just how corrupt the public sector is in 176 countries, based on the perceptions of business people and experts on each state.

Higher-ranked countries tend to have higher degrees of press freedom, access to information about public expenditure, stronger standards of integrity for public officials, and independent judicial systems. But high-scoring countries can't afford to be complacent, either. While the most obvious forms of corruption may not scar citizens' daily lives in all these places, the higher-ranked countries are not immune to closed-door deals, conflicts of interest, illicit finance, and patchy law enforcement that can distort public policy and exacerbate corruption at home and abroad.

In a statement on Tuesday, Martin Hilti, director of the Swiss branch of Transparency International, said: “The enviable place that Switzerland regularly occupies on the CPI is good news, but that doesn’t mean that its public sector is free from corruption.
 
“Corruption cases are constantly breaking out, above all in public procurement. And these cases are only the tip of the iceberg, because the percentage of cases that aren’t exposed is without doubt very high”.