How corrupt is the U.S.? See world rankings by country

Tuesday, February 02, 2016

Kim Jong Un is the political leader of North Korea, tied with Somalia as most corrupt country in the world, according to Transparency International (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

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North Korea and Somalia have tied for the title of the most corrupt country in the world, according to Transparency International's new 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Denmark was found to be the least corrupt country for the second year in a row, and the United States tied Austria for 16th least corrupt.

The index covers the perception of public sector corruption in 168 countries, examining qualities such as news media freedoms, access to government budget information and integrity among people in power. Two third of the world's countries scored below 50 on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean).

Countries such as Greece, Senegal and the United Kingdom were perceived to have cleaned up their public sector corruption. But levels of corruption in Australia, Libya and Spain rose significantly.

That is particularly true of Brazil, which fell 5 points and dropped 7 positions between 2014 and 2015. Transparency International cited the Petrobras scandal, in which politicians were thought to have accepted bribes and kickbacks for handing out public contracts, as one reason for the decline.

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