A report identifying the most and least corrupt countries in the world was published Wednesday by the Berlin-based watchdog group, Transparency International.
"Corruption is a problem for all countries," the report said. "A poor score is likely a sign of widespread bribery, lack of punishment for corruption and public institutions that don't respond to citizens' needs. Countries at the top of the index also need to act. Leading financial centres in the EU and US need to join with fast-growing economies to stop the corrupt from getting away with it. The G20 needs to prove its global leadership role and prevent money laundering and stop secret companies from masking corruption."
Titled "Corruption Perceptions Index for 2014," the report is based on expert opinions of public sector corruption, and examined 175 countries, ranking them on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to not be corrupt).
The two most corrupt nations were Somalia and North Korea, who tied, both receiving a corruption score of eight. They were followed by Sudan, with an 11, Afghanistan at 12, and South Sudan at 15.
The least corrupt? Denmark, with a score of 92, followed closely by New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Singapore.
The United States came in 17th place, and received a corruption score of 74, tying with Ireland, Hong Kong and Barbados.
Countries with the most corruption growth since 2013 include China, Turkey and Angola, who all dropped four or 5 points, despite average economic growth, the report said.
More than two-thirds of the countries examined scored below 50.
"The 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that economic growth is undermined and efforts to stop corruption fade when leaders and high level officials abuse power to appropriate public funds for personal gain," said José Ugaz, chair of Transparency International.
"Corrupt officials smuggle ill-gotten assets into safe havens through offshore companies with absolute impunity," Ugaz said.
"Countries at the bottom need to adopt radical anti-corruption measures in favour of their people. Countries at the top of the index should make sure they don't export corrupt practices to underdeveloped countries."
