Tajikistan has climbed up nine places in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) table for 2018.
According to the index that was prepared by anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI), Tajikistan was ranked 152nd out of 180 countries, while in 2017, it was ranked 161st out of 180 countries.
This year’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) paints a bleak picture of anti-corruption efforts in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In a region where only one country scores over 50 out of 100 and all other countries score 45 or less out of 100 on the index, there has been very little progress in combatting corruption over several years.
Only three countries from the region score above the global average of 43. Georgia leads the region with just 58 points on the CPI, followed by Montenegro (45) and Belarus (44).
At the very bottom, Turkmenistan earns the lowest score in the region (20), followed by Uzbekistan (23) and Tajikistan (25).
Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were ranked 138th, 124th and 132nd respectively.
Given its average score of 35, Eastern Europe and Central Asia is the second lowest scoring region in the index, ahead of Sub-Saharan Africa, which has an average score of 32.
The report notes that corruption thrives where weak democratic practices exist. Combined with a lack of political will to combat corruption in the public sector, countries across the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region are undermining the political rights of their citizens.
In many post-Soviet countries, checks and balances reportedly do not exist that would ordinarily keep powerful private individuals and groups from exerting exceptional influence over government decisions. In these settings, illicit lobbying practices take place and conflicts of interest go undisclosed.
The 2018 CPI draws on 13 surveys and expert assessments to measure public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories, giving each a score from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).More than two-thirds of countries score below 50 on this year’s CPI, with an average score of just 43.
It reveals that the continued failure of most countries to significantly control corruption is contributing to a crisis in democracy around the world. While there are exceptions, the data shows that despite some progress, most countries are failing to make serious inroads against corruption.
Transparency International (TI) has published the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) since 1995, annually ranking countries “by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys.” The CPI generally defines corruption as “the misuse of public power for private benefit.”
Since its inception in 1995, the Corruption Perceptions Index has become the leading global indicator of public sector corruption. The index offers an annual snapshot of the relative degree of corruption by ranking countries and territories from all over the globe. In 2012, Transparency International revised the methodology used to construct the index to allow for comparison of scores from one year to the next.
