The report published by Transparency International ranked 177 countries in terms of corruption and ranks each country on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
Cyprus received 63 points, ranking them 31st. In 2012 the island was ranked 29th, 30th in 2011 and in 28th place in 2010.
A press release published by Transparency International Cyprus said the island received 63 points for three main reasons: Corruption in relations of political parties with the business environmentThe lack of regulations and will for setting up substantive prevention regulations, tracking and penalizing corruptionThe economic crisis which favours corruption.
Since the results were released, Transparency International Cyprus has highglighted the problems raised and provided certain suggestions to the governement and the President Nicos Anastasiades for their immediate attention.
Out of the 31 Europen countries which were included in the index, Cyprus ranked 16th. While more than two thirds of the 177 countries in the index scored below 50. Denmark and New Zealand both scored 91 taking joint first place, while Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia found themselves at the bottom of the list scoring just 8 points each.
“The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 demonstrates that all countries still face the threat of corruption at all levels of government, from the issuing of local permits to the enforcement of laws and regulations,” said Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International.
“The top performers clearly reveal how transparency supports accountability and can stop corruption,” said Labelle. “Still, the better performers face issues like state capture, campaign finance and the oversight of big public contracts which remain major corruption risks.”
The Corruption Perceptions Index is based on experts’ opinions of public sector corruption. Scores can be helped by strong access to information systems and rules governing the behaviour of those in public positions, while a lack of accountability across the public sector coupled with ineffective public institutions hurts these perceptions.