Corruption Perception Index 2023: Pakistan’s rank improves 7 places

Pakistan’s score has improved by a significant seven spots in Transparency International’s (TI) latest Corruption Perception Index (CPI), and it is now ranked 133rd among 180 countries in comparison to its 140th place last year, according to a report revealed by the Berlin-based corruption watchdog on Tuesday.

The South Asian country’s score increased to 29/100 in 2023 from 27/100 in 2022, an increase of two points that made this its highest score since 2020.

“This reflects on the anti-corruption efforts taken by different pillars of the state due to which Pakistan has witnessed an improvement in CPI 2023,” Justice Zia Perwez (retired), Chair of Transparency International Pakistan, was quoted as saying in the press release.

He said government policies aimed at better governance and effective enforcement of the laws are expected to yield positive results in the future, as well as through the implementation of the recommendations of Transparency International.

“Transparency International calls on governments to give justice systems the independence, resources and transparency needed to effectively punish all corruption offences and provide checks and balances on power. Where necessary, they must also introduce better procedures and laws to help justice institutions shield themselves from and target corrupt acts.”

The index by TI, a civil society organisation working to end corruption, showed that over two-thirds of countries score below 50 out of 100, “which strongly indicates that they have serious corruption problems.” 

Pakistan’s performance worsens, rank remains same in corruption perception index

The global average remained stuck at only 43, while the vast majority of countries have made no progress or declined in the last decade. What is more, 23 countries fell to their lowest scores to date this year.

The 2023 CPI shows that only 28 of the 180 countries measured by this index have improved their corruption levels over the last twelve years, and 34 countries have significantly worsened.

“Despite progress made across the planet in criminalising corruption and establishing specialised institutions to address it, corruption levels remain stagnant globally,” it said

Injustice and trouble at the top

The report said the global trend of weakening justice systems is reducing accountability for public officials, which allows corruption to thrive.

“Both authoritarian and democratic leaders are undermining justice. This is increasing impunity for corruption, and even encouraging it by eliminating consequences for criminals,” it said.

TI said that countries ranking high on the CPI have an impunity problem of their own, even if this isn’t reflected in their scores.

“Many cross-border corruption cases have involved companies from top-scoring countries that resort to bribery when doing business abroad. Others have implicated professionals who sell secrecy or otherwise enable foreign corrupt officials. And yet, top-scoring countries often fail to go after perpetrators of transnational corruption and their enablers,” it said.

The index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public-sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople. It relies on 13 independent data sources and uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

As per the report, Denmark headed the ranking, with a score of 90. Finland and New Zealand followed closely with a score of 87 and 85, respectively.

“Due to well-functioning justice systems, these countries are also among the top scorers in the Rule of Law Index,” said the report.

On the flip side, Somalia was declared the most corrupt country in the world with a score of 11. Venezuela and Syria followed closely with a score of 13.