Denmark has the least corrupt public sector in the world
"It reveals the inability of most countries to control corruption, which in turn contributes to a crisis of democracy around the world." This is how forceful the conclusions of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2018 published by ** Transparency International **, a world organization that has been denouncing corruption for 25 years.
The IPC, which is published annually, analyzes the perception that experts and business executives have about the degree of corruption in the public sector (political and administrative class) of 180 countries and territories that are given a score ranging from 0 to 100, where 0 is very corrupt and 100 is not at all corrupt.
In this edition, the IPC 2018, it is Denmark , with 88 points, the country that can boast of the public sector furthest from corruption in the world, unseating New Zealand which in 2017 crowned this ranking.
Something not so obvious, to get away from corruption, if we take into account that more than two thirds of the countries analyzed are below 50 points and that the mean is 43, maintaining the same as in 2017.
In the midst of this dance of unflattering figures that show the failure of many countries in their fight against corruption, ** Spain adds 58 points out of a possible 100, which places it in position number 41 out of 180.**
It is in that last place that we find Somalia (10 points) with the most corrupt public sector of those analyzed in 2018, very close to the 13 points of South Sudan and Syria.
And it is that for it to be considered that there is sufficient information to include a country or territory in this ranking, must appear in at least three of the 13 data sources used to compile the CPI. Namely: Institutional Assessment and National Policies 2016, of the African Development Bank; Indicators on Sustainable Governance 2018, by Bertelsmann Stiftung; Transformation Index 2017-2018, from Bertelsmann Stiftung; Country Risk Service 2018, from the Economist Intelligence Unit; Nations in Transition 2018, by Freedom House; Business Conditions and Risk Indicators 2017, by Global Insight; 2018 Executive Opinion Survey of the World Competitiveness Yearbook, by the IMD World Competitiveness Center; Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Asian Intelligence 2018; International Country Risk Guide 2018, from PRS Group International; Institutional Evaluation and National Policies 2017, of the World Bank; Executive Opinion Survey 2018, from the World Economic Forum; Expert survey for the Rule of Law Index 2017-2018, World Justice Project and Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) 2018. All of them published in the previous two years.
Among the aspects of corruption that are taken into account, based on these sources and the questions put to the experts, are bribery, diversion of public funds , the preponderance of public officials who take advantage of the public function for personal gain without facing any consequences; the ability of governments to contain corruption and enforce effective integrity mechanisms in the public sector; administrative hurdles and excessive bureaucratic requirements that could increase opportunities for corruption; public service appointments made on the basis of nepotism rather than merit; effective criminal prosecution of corrupt officials; the existence of adequate laws on financial disclosure and prevention of conflicts of interest for public officials; the legal protection of whistleblowers, journalists and investigators when reporting on cases of bribery and corruption; the capture of the State by particular interests and, finally, civil society's access to information on public affairs.
Left out, however, is the citizen's perception or experience of corruption; tax fraud; illicit financial flows; facilitators of corruption (lawyers, accountants, financial advisers…) ; money laundering; informal economies and markets; and private sector corruption.
It is for the latter, for leaving out the private sector, that the CPI cannot be considered be a definitive judgment on the degree of corruption in an entire country, including here its society, its politics and private activities.
You can consult the countries with a healthier public sector through ** our gallery **.