On the latest 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International, Singapore was ranked as the third least corrupt country in the world, behind Denmark and New Zealand, in a tie with Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland. This spot in the top three is an improvement from last year’s sixth place.
The scale starts from zero (highly corrupt) and goes up to 100 (very clean), with Singapore getting a score of 85, after Denmark’s 88 and New Zealand’s 87. An annual listing, the index put together by the international organization examines public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories via 13 surveys and expert assessments.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong took 14th spot, Japan came in at 18th place, Taiwan took 31st position, and South Korea ranked 45th. India and China were placed at 78th and 87th place respectively. Meanwhile, Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia came in at 61st spot, followed by Indonesia at 89th, Thailand and the Philippines at 99th, Vietnam at 117th, and Myanmar trailing behind at 132nd place.
This year, more than two-thirds on the list scored below 50, and the average score was just 43. Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria came in at the bottom, while the US fell out of the top 20 list for the first time since 2011 with a score of 71.
