Global Surveys on Corruption

Corruption Surveys:  Transparency International.  2005. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi

The Corruption Perceptions Index is a survey that ranks countries in terms of perceived levels of corruption.  This is done through opinion surveys and expert assessments.  For the 2005 Transparency International survey, of the 200 countries of the world, only 159 were surveyed. Overall, the majority of countries with higher scores are on the Australian, North American and European continents.  The majority of countries with low scores are from the South America, Africa, and Asia continents.  This not always the correct, yet most of the time it is.  The top ten countries with the highest scores on the corruption scaled, with low corruption are Iceland, Finland, New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, and Austria.  The ten lowest scores, which signify the most corruption, are Chad, Bangladesh, Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Haiti, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Angola, and Tajikistan.  The United States comes in number 17 overall.   

The Global Corruption Barometer is another survey given to 69 countries to measure popular opinion about corruption in their government.  Of the 69 surveyed, 45 countries rated themselves as the most corrupt country in the world.  Citizens in Western Europe, Asia, and Latin America feel their parliament and political parties are the most corrupt, while people in Africa are more concerned with the integrity of their police, along with people in Central and Eastern Europe.  The Judiciary system was perceived to be very corrupt in Central and Eastern Europe along with Latin America.  In the business sector, the citizens of Western Europe and Scandinavian countries feel their system is very corrupt.  Over half of the people surveyed thought that corruption had increased since last year. 

For Bribery, the people from richer, developed countries reported low levels of bribery while people from poorer, developing countries reported higher levels of bribery.  In South Asia and Latin America, it is most common to ask for bribes directly.  In Eastern Europe however, bribes are more likely to be paid to access public services.