Pakistan Drops 16 Points on Corruption Perception Index

Pakistan has been ranked 140 out of 180 countries, dropping 16 points over the last year, on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2021 by Transparency International. The CPI is published annually by the global watchdog to reveal the level of corruption that exists around the world.

The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption and the results, which are determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys, are given on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (least corrupt).

According to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) published by Transparency International for 2021, Pakistan has dropped 16 points compared to last year’s result, which means corruption in the country has increased since 2020. This comes as a major blow to the PTI Government that came into power with the slogan to eradicate corruption but Pakistan has constantly dropped on the CPI ever since the incumbent government took control.

In 2020, Pakistan was ranked 117 out of 180 countries on the CPI, but over the period of three years, the country has slipped to reach 140 on the CPI in 2021. In 2018, Pakistan scored 33 out of 100 on the CPI as a result of the rising corruption. In 2019, the score was recorded at 32; whereas, in 2020, the country’s score dropped even further at 31 and the latest results put Pakistan at 28 out of 100 on the Corruption Perception Index.

Transparency International said in its report that the CPI shows the corruption levels have remained at a standstill worldwide, with 86% of the countries making little to no progress in the last 10 years. The global CPI score has remained unchanged at 43 for the tenth consecutive year in a row, and two-thirds of countries are below the average score of 50.

“This year, the top countries are Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, each with a score of 88. Norway (85), Singapore (85), Sweden (85), Switzerland (84), the Netherlands (82), Luxembourg (81) and Germany (80) complete the top 10.” said Transparency International in its report.

“South Sudan (11), Syria (13) and Somalia (13) remain at the bottom of the index.” it added. “Countries experiencing armed conflict or authoritarianism tend to earn the lowest scores, including Venezuela (14), Afghanistan (16), North Korea (16), Yemen (16), Equatorial Guinea (17), Libya (17) and Turkmenistan (19).”

Furthermore, Transparency International said that more corruption means there will be more human rights abuses as well. “There is no coincidence. Corruption enables human rights abuses. Conversely, ensuring basic rights and freedoms means there is less space for corruption to go unchallenged.”

What do you think of the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index and the increase of corruption in Pakistan? Let us know in the comments below.

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