With a score of 46 points, Romania ranks 58th out of 168 countries included in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2015. In 2014, Romania ranked 69th out of 175 countries surveyed, with a score of 43 points (the same as in 2013).

The index measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption worldwide. The countries with the lowest scores are highly corrupt while those with the highest scores are the cleanest. The scale goes up from 0 to 100.

Denmark tops the ranking with a score of 91 points, followed by Finland (90), and Sweden (89). On the other hand, Somalia and North Korea come at the bottom of the ranking, with a score of 8 points.

Romania ranks 58th with 46 points, the same as Greece, but below the EU average of 65 points, and continues to be perceived as one of the most corrupt countries in the European Union.

Romania is behind countries such as Botswana (28th), South Korea (37th), Rwanda (44th), Hungary (50th), Kuwait (55th), and Ghana (56th). However, it scores better than Italy (61st), Turkey (66th), Bulgaria (69th), and Serbia (71st).

Find the entire index here.

Romania has made significant progress in the past two years in fighting top-level corruption, which has been acknowledged in the European Commission's recent CVM report and the Council of Europe's GRECO report.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: print screen from Transparency.org)