NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas held on to its score of 64 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for its second consecutive year.
The CPI is the most widely used global corruption ranking in the world, measuring how corrupt each country’s public sector is perceived to be according to experts and business people.
According to the report, a country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale from zero to 100. Zero means the country is perceived as highly corrupt and 100 means the country is perceived as very clean.
In the recently released CPI 2022 index, The Bahamas maintained its spot as the 30th least corrupt nation out of 180 counties. The Bahamas closely followed Barbados which scored 65 and ranked 29.
Trinidad and Tobago ranked 77 with a score of 42, Jamaica ranked 69 with a score of 44, St. Vincent and the Grenadines ranked 35 with a score of 60, and Dominica and St. Lucia both ranked 45 with scores of 55.
Denmark received the highest score of 90, followed by Finland and New Zealand who both scored 87. The United States scored 69.
According to Transparency International, each country’s score is a combination of at least three data sources drawn from 13 different corruption surveys and assessments.
The data sources used to compile the CPI specifically cover the following manifestations of public sector corruption: “bribery; diversion of public funds; officials using their public office for private gain without facing consequences; the ability of governments to contain corruption in the public sector; excessive red tape in the public sector which may increase opportunities for corruption,” the organization stated.
It added: “Nepotistic appointments in the civil service; laws ensuring that public officials must disclose their finances and potential conflicts of interest; legal protection for people who report cases of bribery and corruption; state capture by narrow vested interests; and access to information on public affairs/government activities.”
