Kuwait improves in anti-corruption index ranks

The GCC-member state ranked 78 on CPI Index for 2018, advancing by seven places compared to its 85 spot in 2017, TI indicated in its Corruption Perceptions Index. The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople, uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

Meanwhile, CPI Index warned that over two-thirds of countries scored below 50 in 2018, with an average score of just 43, adding despite some progress; most countries are failing to make serious inroads against corruption. The report shows that top countries are Denmark and New Zealand with scores of 88 and 87, respectively. The bottom countries are Somalia, Syria and South Sudan with scores of 10, 13 and 13, respectively. While no country earns a perfect score on the CPI, countries that tend to do best also protect democratic rights and values, it noted.

democratic rights and values, it noted. In the last seven years, only 20 countries significantly improved their CPI scores, including Estonia, Senegal, Guyana and Cote D’Ivoire, added the report. Equally troubling, 16 countries significantly decreased their scores, including Australia, Chile, Malta, Hungary and Turkey. With a score of 71, the US lost four points since 2017, dropping out of the top 20 countries on the CPI for the first time since 2011. Brazil dropped two points since 2017 to 35, also earning its lowest CPI score in seven years, said the report. With a score of 59, the Czech Republic increased two points since 2017 and eight points since 2014.