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Uruguay is considered less corrupt than the US and Spain

Uruguay is considered less corrupt than the US and Spain

🫰💰Corruption around the world: The stark contrasts between Latin American nations. Let’s explore ↓

Every year, a German organization called Transparency International embarks on measuring corruption in each of the world's countries. It does so through a metric they've branded as the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which, as the name implies, measures how corrupt people perceive their countries to be.

As with any such index, the methodology leaves room for criticism. Many will notice that according to this list, Cuba is our region's fourth least corrupt country. The correct way of interpreting the index is that Cubans consider their country less corrupt than, say, Colombians consider their own. It's a subjective measure.

Latin American countries range from Venezuela, which now ranks second to worst worldwide, to Uruguay, which is tied with Japan and perceived as less corrupt than some of the most developed nations like the US and France.

Here, we have another case of Uruguay leading the region by example. Unlike most countries in Latin America, which have experienced turmoil and drastic changes over the years, Uruguay's corruption score has remained stable. This indicates healthy power transitions and is a testament to Uruguay's trusted democratic and judicial systems.

Turning back the clock on this index exposes improvements and descents into tragedy. On the improvements side, the Dominican Republic (DR) has made strides to regain its people's trust, improving its score by 20%+ in the past decade.

In the early 2010s, the DR was struggling with bribery allegations and a weak and unwilling-to-prosecute judicial system. Just last year, twenty former officials were arrested in the largest anti-corruption probe in the country's history, which uncovered widespread embezzlement in government contracts.

As for the tragedies, you probably guessed them: Venezuela and Nicaragua continued to undermine institutions and concentrate power in the hands of undemocratic leaders.

Dataset

Country / TerritoryRegionCPI score 2023CountryCorruption Perceptions Index score 2023Corruption Perceptions Index score 2013% change in score (2013 to 2023)Region
AfghanistanAP20Germany78780.00Elsewhere
AlbaniaECA37Canada7681-0.06Elsewhere
AlgeriaMENA36Australia7581-0.07Elsewhere
AngolaSSA33Uruguay73730.00LatAm
ArgentinaAME37Japan7374-0.01Elsewhere
ArmeniaECA47France71710.00Elsewhere
AustraliaAP75United Kingdom7176-0.07Elsewhere
AustriaWE/EU71United States6973-0.05Elsewhere
AzerbaijanECA23Chile6671-0.07LatAm
BahamasAME64South Korea63550.15Elsewhere
BahrainMENA42Spain60590.02Elsewhere
BangladeshAP24Italy56430.30Elsewhere
BarbadosAME69Costa Rica55530.04LatAm
BelarusECA37Saudi Arabia52460.13Elsewhere
BelgiumWE/EU73Malaysia50500.00Elsewhere
BeninSSA43China42400.05Elsewhere
BhutanAP68Cuba4246-0.09LatAm
BoliviaAME29Vietnam41310.32Elsewhere
Bosnia and HerzegovinaECA35South Africa4142-0.02Elsewhere
BotswanaSSA59Colombia40360.11LatAm
BrazilAME36India39360.08Elsewhere
Brunei DarussalamAPEthiopia37330.12Elsewhere
BulgariaWE/EU45Argentina37340.09LatAm
Burkina FasoSSA41Brazil3642-0.14LatAm
BurundiSSA20Dominican Republic35290.21LatAm
Cabo VerdeSSA64Egypt35320.09Elsewhere
CambodiaAP22Panama35350.00LatAm
CameroonSSA27Indonesia34320.06Elsewhere
CanadaAME76Ecuador3435-0.03LatAm
Central African RepublicSSA24Peru3338-0.13LatAm
ChadSSA20Mexico3134-0.09LatAm
ChileAME66El Salvador3138-0.18LatAm
ChinaAP42Pakistan29280.04Elsewhere
ColombiaAME40Bolivia2934-0.15LatAm
ComorosSSA20Paraguay28240.17LatAm
CongoSSA22Russia2628-0.07Elsewhere
Costa RicaAME55Nigeria25250.00Elsewhere
Cote d'IvoireSSA40Iran2425-0.04Elsewhere
CroatiaWE/EU50Bangladesh2427-0.11Elsewhere
CubaAME42Honduras2326-0.12LatAm
CyprusWE/EU53Guatemala2329-0.21LatAm
CzechiaWE/EU57Nicaragua1728-0.39LatAm
Democratic Republic of the CongoSSA20Venezuela1320-0.35LatAm
DenmarkWE/EU90
DjiboutiSSA30
DominicaAME56
Dominican RepublicAME35
EcuadorAME34
EgyptMENA35
El SalvadorAME31
Equatorial GuineaSSA17
EritreaSSA21
EstoniaWE/EU76
EswatiniSSA30
EthiopiaSSA37
FijiAP52
FinlandWE/EU87
FranceWE/EU71
GabonSSA28
GambiaSSA37
GeorgiaECA53
GermanyWE/EU78
GhanaSSA43
GreeceWE/EU49
GrenadaAME53
GuatemalaAME23
GuineaSSA26
Guinea BissauSSA22
GuyanaAME40
HaitiAME17
HondurasAME23
Hong KongAP75
HungaryWE/EU42
IcelandWE/EU72
IndiaAP39
IndonesiaAP34
IranMENA24
IraqMENA23
IrelandWE/EU77
IsraelMENA62
ItalyWE/EU56
JamaicaAME44
JapanAP73
JordanMENA46
KazakhstanECA39
KenyaSSA31
Korea, NorthAP17
Korea, SouthAP63
KosovoECA41
KuwaitMENA46
KyrgyzstanECA26
LaosAP28
LatviaWE/EU60
LebanonMENA24
LesothoSSA39
LiberiaSSA25
LibyaMENA18
LithuaniaWE/EU61
LuxembourgWE/EU78
MadagascarSSA25
MalawiSSA34
MalaysiaAP50
MaldivesAP39
MaliSSA28
MaltaWE/EU51
MauritaniaSSA30
MauritiusSSA51
MexicoAME31
MoldovaECA42
MongoliaAP33
MontenegroECA46
MoroccoMENA38
MozambiqueSSA25
MyanmarAP20
NamibiaSSA49
NepalAP35
NetherlandsWE/EU79
New ZealandAP85
NicaraguaAME17
NigerSSA32
NigeriaSSA25
North MacedoniaECA42
NorwayWE/EU84
OmanMENA43
PakistanAP29
PanamaAME35
Papua New GuineaAP29
ParaguayAME28
PeruAME33
PhilippinesAP34
PolandWE/EU54
PortugalWE/EU61
QatarMENA58
RomaniaWE/EU46
RussiaECA26
RwandaSSA53
Saint LuciaAME55
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesAME60
Sao Tome and PrincipeSSA45
Saudi ArabiaMENA52
SenegalSSA43
SerbiaECA36
SeychellesSSA71
Sierra LeoneSSA35
SingaporeAP83
SlovakiaWE/EU54
SloveniaWE/EU56
Solomon IslandsAP43
SomaliaSSA11
South AfricaSSA41
South SudanSSA13
SpainWE/EU60
Sri LankaAP34
SudanSSA20
SurinameAME40
SwedenWE/EU82
SwitzerlandWE/EU82
SyriaMENA13
TaiwanAP67
TajikistanECA20
TanzaniaSSA40
ThailandAP35
Timor-LesteAP43
TogoSSA31
Trinidad and TobagoAME42
TunisiaMENA40
TurkeyECA34
TurkmenistanECA18
UgandaSSA26
UkraineECA36
United Arab EmiratesMENA68
United KingdomWE/EU71
United States of AmericaAME69
UruguayAME73
UzbekistanECA33
VanuatuAP48
VenezuelaAME13
VietnamAP41
YemenMENA16
ZambiaSSA37
ZimbabweSSA24
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