Transparency International is a Berlin-based organization whose mission is “to stop corruption and promote transparency, accountability and integrity at all levels and across all sectors of society.” They publish the annual “Corruption Perception Index.” This index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. According to Transparency International’s metrics, “a country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 – 100, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 100 means it is perceived as very clean. A country’s rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories included in the index. This year’s index includes 177 countries and territories.”

So, the United States tops list of “Least Corrupt Countries in the World…?”

April Fool!

The United States didn’t even make the Top Ten. We’re Number 19, just above Uruguay and right below Japan. Respectable? Sure. But 18 other countries are even more respectable…

Take a look at the full list: http://www.transparency.org/cpi2013/results. You can also download a copy of their full report, loaded with interesting comparisons and groupings.

Just a little April Fool from an international perspective…