QCOSTARICA | In its annual report by Transparency International, “Corruption Perception Index 2015“, Costa Rica improved its ranking one point, from 54 to 55 (on a transparency scale of 0-100).
The Transparency International report for Central America indicates the public sector felt to be the most corrupt is Nicaragua (27), followed by Guatemala (28), Honduras (31), Panama (39), El Salvador (39) and Costa Rica (55).
The report signals out Guatemala in a list of countries where “… citizen activists, whether in a group or individually, worked intensively to expel corrupt people, and so sent a strong message that should inspire others to act decisively in 2016. ”
The report notes that Guatemala worsened its position in the global index, going from a level of 32 in 2014 to 28 in 2015 on a scale of 0 (high levels of corruption perceived) to 100 (very low levels of corruption perceived).
Overall, Transparency International says 2015 showed that people working together can succeed in the battle against corruption and although corruption is still rife globally, more countries improved their scores in the 2015 edition of the Index.
The index covers perceptions of public sector corruption in 168 countries. See full report “Corruption Perceptions Index 2015.”
The big decliners in the past 4 years include Libya, Australia, Brazil, Spain and Turkey. The big improvers include Greece, Senegal and UK.