POLITICS
U.S. slips to new low in international corruption index
February 12, 2025 - Many countries had their worst showing in more than a decade, from the U.S. and France to Russia and Venezuela, according to the annual survey by anti-graft watchdog Transparency International.
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Transparency International has released its annual corruption index with Denmark remaining in the top spot as the least corrupt nation while France, Germany and the U.S. all fell in the rankings, with Transparency notably citing “serious questions” about the ethics rules for the U.S. Supreme Court, AFP reports.
The report ranks countries on a scale from a “highly corrupt” 0 to a “very clean” 100.
For the seventh year in a row, Denmark heads the ranking, with a score of 90, Transparency International reports. Finland and Singapore take the second and third spots, with scores of 88 and 84, respectively. Scoring 83, New Zealand is outside the top three positions for the first time since 2012, but remains in the top 10, together with Luxembourg (81), Norway (81), Switzerland (81), Sweden (80), the Netherlands (78), Australia (77), Iceland (77) and Ireland (77).
Meanwhile, countries experiencing conflict or with highly restricted freedoms and weak democratic institutions occupy the bottom of the index. South Sudan (8), Somalia (9) and Venezuela (10) take the last three spots. Syria (12), Equatorial Guinea (13), Eritrea (13), Libya (13), Yemen (13), Nicaragua (14), Sudan (15) and North Korea (15) complete the list of lowest scorers.