NEW YORK: Pakistan has ranked 140 out of 180 countries — dropping sixteen spots over last year — in the newly released Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International, an annual index that ranks countries based on perceptions of public sector corruption.
Last year, Pakistan had ranked 124. On a scale of 0-100, with zero being ‘Highly Corrupt’ and 100 being ‘Very Clean’, Pakistan corruption score stands at 28— three points lower than last year’s 31.
The recent Index indicates that the perception of corruption in the public sector has worsened immensely. Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for the year 2021 has raised concerns about the integrity of the present government and anti-corruption drive.
The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The results are given on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
According to the report, this year’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) reveals that corruption levels are at a worldwide standstill. This year, the global average remains unchanged for the tenth year in a row, at just 43 out of a possible 100 points.
Despite multiple commitments, 131 countries have made no significant progress against corruption in the last decade. Two-thirds of countries score below 50, indicating that they have serious corruption problems, while 27 countries are at their lowest score ever.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has also been used in many countries as an excuse to curtail basic freedoms and side-step important checks and balances. “In authoritarian contexts where control rests with a few, social movements are the last remaining check on power. It is the collective power held by ordinary people from all walks of life that will ultimately deliver accountability,” said Daniel Eriksson Chief Executive Officer, Transparency International Secretariat.
Many high-scoring countries with relatively “clean” public sectors also continue to enable transnational corruption – with consequences for their own corruption levels. While corruption takes vastly different forms from country to country, this year’s scores reveal that all regions of the globe are at a standstill when it comes to fighting public sector corruption.
At the top of the CPI, countries in Western Europe and the European Union continue to wrestle with transparency and accountability in their response to COVID-19, threatening the region’s clean image. In parts of Asia Pacific, the Americas, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, increasing restrictions on accountability measures and basic civil freedoms allow corruption to go unchecked. Even historically high-performing countries are showing signs of decline.
In the Middle East and North Africa, the interests of a powerful few continue to dominate the political and private sphere, and the limitations placed on civil and political freedoms are blocking any significant progress. In Sub-Saharan Africa, armed conflict, violent transitions of power and increasing terrorist threats combined with poor enforcement of anti-corruption commitments rob citizens of their basic rights and services.
