A Closer Look at the Results of 2014 CPI from the Perspective of the Arab Region

The Results of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2014 are out! Denmark is in the lead, followed by New Zealand and Finland; while Somalia trails the list, preceded by North Korea and Sudan. The CPI is an aggregated index that is based on information compiled from various sources to provide an assessment of how people view corruption in the public sector of a certain country. The more they perceive the existence of corruption, the lower is the country’s score on a scale from 0 to 100. The global average of the scores of the 175 countries that were covered 2014 stood at 43.2 point, which is half a point better than that of last year.

In the Arab region, the average fell way below the global average, scoring 35 points, compared to 34.2 points in 2013, which constitutes a slight improvement. Among the 21 Arab countries that were covered in 2014, the United Arab Emirates came first. Overall, eleven countries showing improvements compared to last year, but only seven scored higher than the global average. The biggest improvements were in Egypt and Jordan, which were featured among the biggest improvers worldwide. Five Arab countries maintained their earlier scores and the remaining five regressed. Below is a table that is prepared by our team. It shows the detailed situation of Arab countries.

The CPI is published by Transparency International since 1995. Despite serious criticism, the CPI survived, and is widely credited for bringing increased global attention to the issue of corruption and acting as a catalyst for action against it. For more information on the 2014 CPI, please visit http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results.