Transparency International has finally released the Corruption Perception Index 2015, listing the most corrupt countries in the world. Check out Nigeria's position in the latest ranking.

The worst countries have been ranked according to functioning public institutions such as the police and media that is state controlled. New research has jointly ranked Somalia and North Korea as the most corrupt regimes in the world. Nigeria disappointingly ranks 136th in the 2015 edition alongside countries like Tajikistan and Comoros,

The study, by Transparency International , found that the two countries have retained the same spots they held last year, each earning a score of just 8 out of 100 - with 1 being the worst corruption imaginable.

They both gained this status due to similarities in war, badly functioning public institutions such as the police and media that is state controlled.

Other notable entries included the US, rising one place to 16, with a score of 76, China, gaining 17 places to 83rd with a score of 36.

France gained three places to 23rd, Spain moved one spot up the ranking to 36th and Italy gained eight places to 61st.

Characteristics including a free press, publicly available budget information and judiciaries which do not treat people differently depending on their wealth were shared by top-performing countries.

Corruption is “rife worldwide” according to Transparency International, which said the average score was 43 out of 100, with more than two thirds of countries scoring less than 50.

This includes Brazil, which scored just 38 after a scandal over allegations directors at giant oil company Petrobras took bribes from construction groups to award contracts and funds were also funnelled to government officials.

The Corruption Perceptions Index 2015 was based on the views of experts of 168 countries.

Britain’s higher ranking was attributed by the watchdog’s director Robert Barrington to “good rhetoric” from the government on fighting corruption, though he added that stopping the UK from being used to launder money, cleaning up politics and improving government openness were all areas which needed work.

Mr Barrington said: “Britain has a Prime Minster who is talking a good game on anti-corruption with plans for a global summit on it in May. Whether he delivers on that remains to be seen.”

He added there had been few major corruption scandals in the UK in 2015 with the exception of in banking,“though the public seem to have become used to these as they have become so frequent”.

The UK cleaning up its act earned a score of 81 out of a 100, putting it in joint 10th place with Luxembourg – a nation until recently famed for its banking secrecy laws – and Germany, where the VW scandal rocked the automotive sector and regulators watching over it.

Mr Barrington said the scandal over emissions from the VW’s diesel cars seemed not have harmed perception around corruption in the country, possibly because it was seen as straightforward fraud rather than corruption.

Simon Webley, research director of the Institute of Business Ethics, said that British companies taking on board the full implications of the 2010 Bribery Act was behind the improvement in the UK’s ranking.

“It’s a trans-national law so any British company involved in bribery anywhere in the world can be prosecuted,” said Mr Webley. “Prosecutions can go right up to board level – there is a real chance of directors going to prison and that has had a real effect.”

Mr Webley said that although there were no major prosecutions under the Act in the period covered by the research, this showed its effectiveness.

“Some people think the SFO should be endlessly prosecuting to see the Act’s impact but deep down the purpose of any good law is to deter and the lack of prosecutions is doing that”.

And Denmark retained the title for having the most honest public sector in the world for a second year, with a score of 91, down from 92 last year.

Source: The Mirror

See the Full List here. The countries with the higher score ranks as one of the less corrupt nations, while those with low score ranks as one of the most corrupt countries of the world. The Corruption Perception Index 2015 was compiled by Transparency International.