Context:

• The 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International.

Details about the Index:

• It reveals that the continued failure of most countries to significantly control corruption is contributing to a crisis of democracy around the world.
• More than two-thirds of countries score below 50, with an average score of only 43.
• Denmark and New Zealand top the Index with 88 and 87 points, respectively.
• Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria are at the bottom of the index, with 10, 13 and 13 points, respectively.
• The highest scoring region is Western Europe and the European Union, with an average score of 66, while the lowest scoring regions are Sub-Saharan Africa (average score 32) and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (average score 35).

India’s Position:

• India has been ranked at 78th place out of 180 countries in ‘Corruption Perception Index’ (CPI) released by Transparency International in 2018 against 81st in the Year 2017.
• India marginally improved its score to 41 (from 40 in 2017).

About the Index:

• The index ranks the countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people.
• It uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

Source:IE