This Is The Most Corrupt Country In The World

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Published
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This Is The Most Corrupt Country In The World

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Several research reports rank corrupt countries. Among the most well-known of these are Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), The U.S News countries index, and a report by Forbes. While not all use the same measures, most include the pervasiveness of bribery, sexual exploitation, and lack of legal enforcement of activities that contribute to corruption.

To determine the most corrupt country in the world, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. Countries were ranked based on their corruption index score, a measure reflecting perceived levels of public sector corruption ranging from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Transparency International calculates index scores using data from 13 different surveys. Each country considered must have at least three sources assessing it. Data on population came from the World Bank and is for 2020.

Overall, the nations of the world have done little to improve the perception of their corruption in recent years. All across the globe, countries have cracked down on civil liberties and removed accountability measures designed to keep public sector corruption in check. Even in relatively open countries, accountability for major issues like COVID-19 responses has been limited.

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In corrupt countries, it can be very difficult for average citizens to gain access to the financial resources they need to escape poverty. High levels of corruption have been shown to cut down on economic growth and restrict access to education, which can make it more difficult for lower-income individuals to lift themselves out of poverty. This has been shown to increase the gap between the rich and the poor.

The most corrupt country in the world is South Sudan. Here are the details:

> Corruption perceptions index: 11/100
> Total population: 11.19 million
> Region: Sub-Saharan Africa

Click here to read The Most Corrupt Countries in the World

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Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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