Singapore remains least corrupt country in Asia; NKorea most corrupt

Pic: Transparency International

by Sebastian Loh -27th January 2016 

THE results are in – Singapore is still the least corrupt country in Asia, while North Korea remains the most corrupt, according to anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2015.

As its name implies, the CPI measures the perception of corruption in a country, rather than actual corruption – the latter being impossible to quantify. The annual ranking has been used as a yardstick to grade a country’s efforts (or lack thereof) in fighting corruption.

Ranked globally at no. 8, Singapore is Asia’s most graft-free country, despite slipping one place from no. 7 which it held in the previous report. The hermit kingdom of North Korea is unsurprisingly Asia’s most corrupt nation at 167th place – a distinction it held last year as well.

Malaysia slipped to 54th place from 50th previously, while Indonesia lurched upwards to 88th from 107th. Thailand improved its standing to 76th (which it shares with India) from 85th. The Philippines, however, fell 10 places to 95th.                    See more