Although Malta’s level of perceived corruption in the public sector and among politicians has not changed since last year, its ranking slipped down three places to 36th, alongside Puerto Rico and Botswana, according to the 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released yesterday by Transparency International.

The Transparency Internat-

ional CPI measures the perceived levels of public-sector corruption in a given country and is a composite index, drawing on different expert and business surveys. The 2008 CPI scores 180 countries (the same number as the 2007 CPI) on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to 10 (highly clean).

In compiling its annual index, Transparency Internat-

ional – a global coalition against corruption - sources 14 different surveys by 12 different bodies including the World Bank, the Economist Intelligence Unit, the African Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

A country’s CPI Score indicates the degree of public sector corruption as perceived by business people and country analysts.

The CPI focuses on corruption in the public sector and defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain. The surveys used in compiling the CPI ask questions that relate to the misuse of public power for private benefit, for example bribery of public officials, kickbacks in public procurement, embezzlement of public funds or questions that probe the strength of anti-corruption policies, thereby encompassing both administrative and political corruption.

According to the 2008 report, Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden share the highest score at 9.3, followed immediately by Singapore at 9.2. The country with the highest perceived rate of corruption is Somalia at 1.0, followed by Iraq and Myanmar at 1.3 and Haiti at 1.4.

The report also noted significant improvements in Albania, Cyprus, Georgia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Tonga and Turkey.

Although the European Union and other Western European countries rank at the top of the CPI, this year’s results show that there is no corruption-free zone in and around the EU.

In 2006 Malta achieved a 6.4 score, which descended to 5.8 last year. According to this year’s report, Malta kept its 5.8 score but slipped three places in the ranking from 33rd place to 36th along with Puerto Rico and Botswana.

However, in the regional country ranking of EU member states and Western Europe, Malta ranked 21st out of 31 countries. Denmark and Sweden came first, while Romania and Bulgaria had the worst rankings.

“In the poorest countries, corruption levels can mean the difference between life and death, when money for hospitals or clean water is in play,” said Huguette Labelle, chairperson of Transparency International.

“The continuing high levels of corruption and poverty plaguing many of the world’s societies amount to an ongoing humanitarian disaster and cannot be tolerated. But even in more privileged countries, with enforcement disturbingly uneven, a tougher approach to tackling corruption is needed.”