The 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International shows that most countries are failing to stop corruption.

The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public-sector corruption, scoring on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (least corrupt).

Thus, a country's rank is its position relative to the other countries in the index. Ranks can change merely if the number of countries included in the index changes.

The rank is therefore not as important as the score in terms of indicating the level of corruption in that country.

Meanwhile, small fluctuations or changes in a country’s CPI score are not usually significant, "we mark all those countries that have undergone a “statistically significant” change. This is a change which is reflected in a majority of the CPI’s underlying data sources. When only a few data sources register a change, this means that it is not yet clear whether public sector corruption has gone up or down in that country," the index notes.

According to the Organisation, countries with strong institutions and well-functioning democracies often find themselves at the top of the Index.

Denmark heads the ranking, with a score of 90. Finland and New Zealand follow closely with a score of 87.

Meanwhile, Norway (84), Singapore (83), Sweden (83), Switzerland (82), the Netherlands (80), Germany (79), Ireland (77) and Luxembourg (77) complete the top 10 this year.

On the flip side, countries experiencing conflict or where basic personal and political freedoms are highly restricted tend to earn the lowest marks.

This year, Somalia (12), Syria (13), and South Sudan (13) are at the bottom of the index. Venezuela (14), Yemen (16), Libya (17), North Korea (17), Haiti (17), Equatorial Guinea (17) and Burundi (17) are also in the bottom 10.