Stockholm (NordSIP) – Anti-corruption non-governmental organisation (NGO) Transparency International published its 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) on January 30th. While the Nordic Region continue to occupy pride of place at the top of the rankings, Sweden has significantly declined over the past decade. Unfortunately, it is not alone in a general picture dominated by an overall stagnation or decline of global governance standards.
The CPI uses 13 independent data sources to rank 180 countries on a scale of 1-100 according to their perceived level of corruption. With Denmark, Finland, and Norway in first, second and fourth places respectively, the Nordic Region can be justifiably proud of its standards in terms of the rule of law and well-functioning democratic institutions. However, they represent a small percentage of the global population. Rounding out the Top 5 are two other very small nations: New Zealand and Singapore. The CPI report reveals that 80% of the world’s population lives in countries that score below the global average score of 43.
Sweden’s direction of travel raises concerns
The 10-year trends are not encouraging. The scores of 118 countries remained the same from 2012 to 2023, with only 34 nations managing to move up the ranking. These include Uzbekistan, Tanzania, Ukraine, Cote d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, and Kuwait. Only the latter managed to exceed the global average score of 43. The standards of a further 34 countries declined over the same decade. the worst of these were Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Gabon, and Sweden, a country that was only beaten by Guatemala and Turkey in terms of ranking places lost over the period. It is only fair to point out that Sweden remains in the global Top 10 with a score of 82, but along with the United Kingdom, it is one of several high-ranking, stable democracies that have suffered a decline in standards over the past decade. In particular, Sweden is one of a group of countries highlighted by Transparency International as presenting issues in the quality of its judicial system, for instance regarding the appointment of judges.
Hungary languishes at the bottom of the European ranking
Nevertheless, while the decline of countries like Sweden and the UK is a concern, they remain far ahead of the worst ranked European nations, which are Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. The latter scores a lowly 42 and has long been at loggerheads with the European Union over the current regime’s disregard for the rule of law and implementation of measures to silence political opponents and restrict freedom of expression.
Elsewhere in Europe, the UK is perceived as worsening in terms of overall corruption levels, largely driven by lobbying scandals and repeated instances of abuses of power for financial gain. Unfortunately, it no longer lies within the scope of the EU’s proposed anti-corruption package that is aimed at helping member-nations to improve standards across the bloc.
Transparency International is calling for all the countries under its scrutiny to strengthen the independence and transparency of their judicial systems. The NGO would also like to see easier overall access to justice, improved co-operation between different components of the system and far better means of attaining accountability in cases of corruption. François Valérian, Chair of Transparency International said: “Corruption will continue to thrive until justice systems can punish wrongdoing and keep governments in check. When justice is bought or politically interfered with, it is the people that suffer. Leaders should fully invest in and guarantee the independence of institutions that uphold the law and tackle corruption. It is time to end impunity for corruption.”
