Corruption in Israel has worsened, according to Shvil - Transparency International Israel. Israel scored 6 in the Transparency International 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), and was ranked 33rd out of the 180 countries examined. In 2007, Israel scored 6.1 and was ranked in 30th place out of 180 countries, and it scored 5.9 and was ranked in 34th place in 2006. A higher score means less corruption on a scale of 0 to 10.
The CPI measures perceptions of public corruption, which Transparency International defines as "abuse of a public position for private gain."
OECD member states make up most of the top ten countries (least corrupt) in the 2008 CPI. Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden topped this year's rankings, with the highest score of 9.3, followed by Singapore, Finland, Switzerland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Australia, and Canada.
Qatar outranked Israel this year, with a score of 6.5, up from a score of 6 last year. Israel outranks this year the United Arab Emirates which scored 5.9, and Botswana, Malta, and Puerto Rico with a score of 5.8 each. India was ranked in 85th place with a score of 3.4 and China was ranked 72nd with a score of 3.6, and Russia was in 147th place with a score of 2.1. Israeli companies do widespread business in all three countries. Somalia was in last place, below Iraq, Myanmar, and Haiti.
Shvil CEO Galia Sagy said, "Israel's score in the rankings demonstrates that we're still not seeing the fruits of the struggle against corruption." She called on the government to complete ratification of the UN Convention Against Corruption.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 23, 2008
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