Seychelles shows steady improvement on global corruption index

A government-run campaign billboard to prevent bribery and corruption in Zambia, Southern Africa (Lars Plougmann/WikiCommons)

(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles has risen to 43rd place out of 175 countries in the global Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2014, making this the third year in a row where the country has made significant progress in tackling corruption.

The Indian Ocean archipelago of 115 islands, with a population of just 90,000 people, scored 55 points out of a possible 100 and went up four places in the rankings from 47th place and a score of 54 out of 100 in 2013.

In 2012, Seychelles scored 52 out of 100 and placed 51st on the list.

The index, compiled annually by Transparency International, reflects perceptions of corruption in public sectors around the world, including administrative and political corruption. The indicator values are determined by using information from surveys and assessments of corruption from a variety of reputable data sources.

According to a press statement from the global anti-corruption watchdog released on Wednesday, more than two thirds of the 175 countries in the 2014 CPI scored below 50 this year, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean).

Seychelles is one of the least corrupt countries in the sub-Saharan African region, in third place after Botswana (31st) and Cabo Verde (42nd).  

Seychelles has shown steady improvement in experts perception of corruption in the country since 2012 (The Global Economy) Photo License: CC-BY

Booming economies and corruption

Denmark, New Zealand and Finland hold the top three places, scoring 92, 91 and 89 respectively. United Kingdom is at 14 on the list with a score of 78 and the United States is at 17, scoring 74. On the other end of the scale, North Korea and Somalia share last place, scoring just eight out of 100.

China, Turkey and Angola were among the biggest fallers with a drop of between 4 and 5 points, despite average economic growth of more than 4 percent over the last four years.

“The 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that economic growth is undermined and efforts to stop corruption fade when leaders and high level officials abuse power to appropriate public funds for personal gain,” said José Ugaz, the chairperson of Transparency International.

“Countries at the bottom need to adopt radical anti-corruption measures in favor of their people. Countries at the top of the index should make sure they don't export corrupt practices to underdeveloped countries,” Ugaz added.

More than two-thirds of the 175 countries in the 2014 CPI scored below 50 this year, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean) (Transparency International) Photo License: CC-BY