Pakistan sees slight improvement in global corruption index

Pakistan witnessed a slight improvement in the 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index released by the Transparency International on Tuesday, scoring a point higher than in 2017 but remaining unchanged in the rankings.

The country scored 33 out of 100 in the index – one point better than its score of 32 in the previous year. Its ranking, however, remained at 117 out of 180 countries, unchanged from 2017.

Transparency International´s closely-watched index ranks 180 nations according to their perceived level of public sector corruption, where a score of zero means very corrupt and 100 signifies very clean.

As in previous years, New Zealand and Nordic countries were among the best in class with Denmark narrowly beating New Zealand to the top spot at 88 and 87 points respectively.

Strife-torn Somalia was once again the worst performer, below Yemen, South Sudan and Syria which all scored in the low teens.

The United States slid down the rankings as America´s system of checks and balances faced growing threats on Donald Trump´s watch. The US lost four points to score 71 out of 100, sending the country tumbling out of the top 20 for the first time since 2011.

The Berlin-based watchdog also singled out Turkey and Hungary for falling down the rankings, blaming "the deterioration of rule of law and democratic institutions, as well as a rapidly shrinking space for civil society and independent media".

As part of its recommendations, the group urged governments to stand up for a free press and support civil society organisations that encourage public oversight over government spending.

The index is compiled based on data from 12 international organisations including the World Bank, African Development Bank and the World Economic Forum.