Norway has moved from 7th place to a joint 4th place on Transparency International’s corruption index. The Nordic countries are doing well. Overall, however, there are no big global changes.
The global average score on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is unchanged for the tenth year in a row, with only 43 out of 100 possible points, Transparency International writes. The index measures how corrupt a country’s public sector is considered to be.
Norway increased its score from 84 in 2020 to 85 in 2021. Despite fourth place, which it shares with Singapore and Sweden, it is only third-best in the Nordic region. Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand are at the top with 88 points. For Finland, that is an improvement of three points. Iceland is the worst of the Nordic countries – in 13th place.
Corruption is linked to human rights violations
Twenty-seven countries recorded their lowest score ever. South Sudan is at the very bottom of the list, followed by Syria, Somalia, and Venezuela. The organization believes that the lack of measures against corruption can be closely linked to deteriorating democracy and human rights conditions.
“Our latest analysis shows that the protection of human rights is central to the fight against corruption. Countries with well-protected civil rights usually score higher on the CPI, while countries where citizens’ rights are increasingly violated score lower,” Transparency International wrote in the report.
In addition, the corona pandemic has been used in many countries as an excuse to weaken control and the principle of distribution of power. The organization mentions, among other things, the espionage tool Pegasus as a new concern, as states have used it to spy on activists, journalists, and politicians, the news agency AP writes.
United States
The countries at the top completely were also criticized by the organization.
“Many countries that score high and have relatively clean public sectors still allow cross-border corruption – which has consequences for their own levels of corruption.”
The USA and Canada are among the countries with the most negative development in recent years. The US score is unchanged, but the country still fell to 27th place. For the first time, it is outside the top 25.
Among other things, this is due to the system for financing election campaigns and the continued attempts of the Right to cast doubt on election results, including the presidential election in 2020.
Canada, for its part, is described as a center of illegal financial activity.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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