Greece has shown no improvement in its corruption perception, maintaining 59th place out of 180 countries, according to the latest Transparency International report on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).
The organization looked at 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Greece has a score below passing levels at 49.
The index highlights the stark contrast between nations with strong, independent institutions and free, fair elections, and those with repressive authoritarian regimes.
Greece is below the democratic countries’ average on corruption
Full democracies have a CPI average of 73, while flawed democracies average 47 and non-democratic regimes just 33. This highlights that although some non-democratic countries might be perceived as managing certain forms of corruption, the broader picture shows that democracy and strong institutions are crucial for combatting corruption fully and effectively.
For the seventh year in a row, Denmark heads the ranking, with a score of 90. 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 (CPI score: 81), Norway (81), Switzerland (81), Sweden (80), the Netherlands (78), Australia (77), Iceland (77) and Ireland (77).
Worst countries on corruption
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.
Since 2012, 32 countries have significantly improved their scores on the index and are now seen as having less corruption. Over the same period, 47 countries made significant losses. These decliners include some high-scoring democracies, like the United States (65) and New Zealand (83), as well as autocratic states like Russia (22) and Eswatini (27). The countries that saw improvements include Moldova (43), Kuwait (46) and Uruguay (76).
The report notes that the climate crisis is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, driven by a web of interconnected factors. Among them lies a crucial but often overlooked issue: corruption, which undermines climate action by misdirecting resources, enabling harmful practices and stifling progress.
“It is imperative that urgent action is taken to root out corruption so that meaningful climate action is not undermined by undue influence, theft and misuse of funds.
“Governments and multilateral organizations must integrate anti-corruption measures into climate efforts to safeguard climate finance and reestablish trust in climate initiatives. This will strengthen the resilience and impact of climate action,” said Maíra Martini, CEO, of Transparency International.