TI said that corruption was shockingly rampant worldwide with almost three-quarters of the countries in the report scoring below five, including all low-income countries and all but two African states.
The worst levels of corruption were seen in Haiti, which scored just 1.8, followed by Myanmar, Iraq and Guinea, which tied at 1.9. Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and Equatorial Guinea rounded out the bottom 10 countries.
Wealthy democracies topped the list, confirming the link between anti-sleaze efforts and prosperity.
Finland, Iceland and New Zealand scored a near-perfect 9.6, followed by Denmark (9.5), Singapore (9.4), Sweden (9.2) and Switzerland (9.1).
Norway, Australia and the Netherlands also made the top 10.
TI noted that while industrialized nations scored high on this year's index, corruption scandals continued to rock many of them. A significant worsening in perceived levels of corruption was seen in Brazil, Cuba, Israel, Jordan, Laos, Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and the United States, which dropped to joint 20th place from 17th last year, with a score of 7.3...
The organization noted that the index includes only those countries that feature in at least three surveys, meaning that many nations -- including some which could be among the most corrupt -- were missing from the list.
