Finland ranks top in least corrupt countries index

Finland together with Denmark and New Zealand ranked top on the index of least corrupt countries published by Transparency International (TI) on Tuesday.

All the three countries secured 88 points each out of 100 points, followed by Norway, Singapore and Sweden with 85 points each.

Switzerland became the 7th least corrupt county with 84 points followed by the Netherlands (82 points) Luxemburg (81 points) and Germany (80) points.

South Sudan is at the bottom of the list of 180 countries with 11 points, followed by Syria (13 points), Somalia (13 points) Venezuela (14 points) and Yemen (16 points).

The Corruption Perception Index (CPI), which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public-sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

“Human rights are not simply a nice-to-have in the fight against corruption. Authoritarian approaches destroy independent checks and balances and make anti-corruption efforts dependent on the whims of an elite. Ensuring people can speak freely and work collectively to hold power to account is the only sustainable route to a corruption-free society,” said Delia Ferreira Rubio, Chair of Transparency International.