Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 25
By Gazenfer Hamidov – Trend:
Iran ranked 130th among 180 countries in terms of the Corruption Perceptions Index ranking in 2017, Transparency International said in its latest annual report.
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople. The index assigns scores between 0 and 100, 0 being highly corrupt and 100 very clean.
Iran obtained a score of 30 in the 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index, while the country's score in 2016 index stood at 29.
The figure has improved from 25 in 2013 to 27 in 2014 and 2015, which indicates that the economic transparency has been gradually improved under Hassan Rouhani’s presidency, who took the office in 2013.
However, the country still ranks 130th in the ranking compared to 131st place in 2016.
Iran ranked 78 in 2003 (with score of 30) which is the country's best ranking during the last 15 years.
The country's ranking started falling during the administration of ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005 - 2013).
The worst ranking belongs to 2009, when Iran ranked 168 with a record low of 18 score.
The Corruption Perceptions Index serves as a reminder that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world. This year, the index found that more than two-thirds of countries score below 50, with an average score of 43. No country has a perfect score in 2017 index. This indicates a serious, worldwide corruption problem.
In 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index, New Zealand (with a score of 89) and Denmark (88) ranked first and second, followed by Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Singapore and Sweden.
Somalia (with a score of 9), South Sudan (12), Syria (14) and Afghanistan (15) are the most corrupt countries according to the Transparency International's 2017 Index.