This is why Singapore and Sweden are seen as the third least corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International.
Robin Hodess, director of policy and research at Transparency International, explains how countries are ranked.
The Corruptions Perceptions Index (CPI) does not indicate the level of corruption but "the perceived level of public sector corruption in a country or territory", according to Transparency International.
The distinction is important.
But as Hodess says:
"We focus on perceptions of corruption because it is very difficult to
measure corruption itself. Perceptions are an important proxy for
corruption, however, because what we found is that perceptions really
do matter. They matter for investment and they are also related to
economic growth. Inversely, we see that perceptions of corruption are the opposite of good governance measures such as freedom of the press."
New Zealand was seen as least corrupt followed by Denmark, and Switzerland ranked fifth out of the 180 countries surveyed.
The Singapore advantage
Transparency International says:
Highest scorers in the 2009 CPI are New Zealand at 9.4, Denmark at 9.3, Singapore and Sweden tied at 9.2 and Switzerland at 9.0. These scores reflect political stability, long-established conflict of interest regulations and solid, functioning public institutions.
Singapore has been ruled by the People's Action Party for 50 years, since before independence, from the time it became a self-governing British colony.
Another advantage may be its small size and population. The top 25 countries on the list include Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Qatar and Saint Lucia.
Small and medium-size economies and countries with relatively small populations make up the top 10. Here are the top 25.
Transparency International explains:
- The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) table shows a country's ranking and score, the number of surveys used to determine the score, and the confidence range of the scoring.
- The rank shows how one country compares to others included in the index. The CPI score indicates the perceived level of public-sector corruption in a country/territory.
- The CPI is based on 13 independent surveys. However, not all surveys include all countries. The surveys used column indicates how many surveys were relied upon to determine the score for that country.
- The confidence range indicates the reliability of the CPI scores and tells us that allowing for a margin of error, we can be 90% confident that the true score for this country lies within this range.
| Rank | Country | CPI score | Surveys used | Confidence range |
| 1 | New Zealand | 9.4 | 6 | 9.1-9.5 |
| 2 | Denmark | 9.3 | 6 | 9.1-9.5 |
| 3 | Singapore | 9.2 | 9 | 9.0-9.4 |
| 3 | Sweden | 9.2 | 9 | 9.0-9.4 |
| 5 | Switzerland | 9.0 | 6 | 8.9 – 9.1 |
| 6 | Finland | 8.9 | 8 | 8.4 – 9.4 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 8.9 | 6 | 8.7 – 9.0 |
| 8 | Australia | 8.7 | 8 | 8.3 – 9.0 |
| 8 | Canada | 8.7 | 6 | 8.5 – 9.0 |
| 8 | Iceland | 8.7 | 4 | 7.5 – 9.4 |
| 11 | Norway | 8.6 | 6 | 8.2 – 9.1 |
| 12 | Hong Kong | 8.2 | 8 | 7.9 – 8.5 |
| 12 | Luxembourg | 8.2 | 6 | 7.6 – 8.8 |
| 14 | Germany | 8.0 | 6 | 7.7 – 8.3 |
| 14 | Ireland | 8.0 | 6 | 7.8 – 8.4 |
| 16 | Austria | 7.9 | 6 | 7.4 – 8.3 |
| 17 | Japan | 7.7 | 8 | 7.4 – 8.0 |
| 17 | United Kingdom | 7.7 | 6 | 7.3 – 8.2 |
| 19 | United States | 7.5 | 8 | 6.9 – 8.0 |
| 20 | Barbados | 7.4 | 4 | 6.6 – 8.2 |
| 21 | Belgium | 7.1 | 6 | 6.9 – 7.3 |
| 22 | Qatar | 7.0 | 6 | 5.8 – 8.1 |
| 23 | Saint Lucia | 7.0 | 3 | 6.7 – 7.5 |
| 24 | France | 6.9 | 6 | 6.5 – 7.3 |
| 25 | Chile | 6.7 | 7 | 6.5 – 6.9 |
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