Norway sixth least corrupt
Norway is among the least corrupt according to a comparison of 176 countries
The Local
Norway was ranked sixth in this year’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), released by anti-corruption campaign group Transparency International on January 25.
The Nordic nation was given a score of 85 on the 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) scale, not too far behind Denmark and New Zealand, which tied for first place with a score of 90. For Norway’s southern neighbor Denmark, it was the fifth year in a row that it sat atop the list.
Fellow Nordic nations Finland and Sweden were ranked third and fourth, respectively, while Switzerland also narrowly beat out Norway to claim fifth.
Norway’s position declined one spot from the fifth-place ranking it enjoyed on the 2015, 2014, and 2013 lists, with its score decreasing two points from last year’s ranking.
As a whole, Transparency International said that no nation in the world—top performers included—is doing enough to fight corruption.
“There are no drastic changes in Europe and Central Asia in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016, with only a few exceptions. However, this does not mean that the region is immune from corruption. The stagnation does not indicate that the fight against corruption has improved, but quite the opposite,” Transparency International wrote.
“Last year in Denmark, the top country on the index, 20 members of the Danish Parliament (11 percent of 179 members) did not declare their outside activities or financial interests in their asset declarations,” the group continued, adding that it is “highly alarming” that even the best-performing countries in Europe aren’t immune to corruption scandals.
For the 10th year in a row, Somalia was at the very bottom of the 176 CPI, with a score of 10. The United States ranks number 18, with a score of 74, two points down from 2015. The full ranking can be seen at www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_perceptions_index_2016.
This article was originally published on The Local.
It also appeared in the Feb. 10, 2017, issue of The Norwegian American. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.
