Corruption Perceptions Index 2020 - Executive Summary

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 06:01 CET, 28 JANUARY 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This year’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) paints a grim picture of the state of corruption worldwide. While most countries have made little to no progress in tackling corruption in nearly a decade, more than two-thirds of countries score below 50. Our analysis shows corruption not only undermines the global health response to COVID-19, but contributes to a continuing crisis of democracy. 2020 proved to be one of the worst years in recent history, with the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating effects. The health and economic impact on individuals and communities worldwide has been catastrophic. More than 90 million people were infected, and nearly 2 million people lost their lives around the world. 1 As the past tumultuous year has shown, COVID-19 is not just a health and economic crisis, but a corruption crisis as well, with countless lives lost due to the insidious effects of corruption undermining a fair and equitable global response. Reports of corruption during COVID-19 2 have reverberated across the globe. 180 The CPI scores 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, according to experts and businesspeople. 100 is very clean and 0 is highly corrupt COUNTRIES SCORED THE CPI USES A SCALE FROM 0 TO 100 50 /100 43 /100 2/3 OF COUNTRIES SCORE BELOW THE AVERAGE SCORE IS 100 0 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL 4