Transparency International’s 2021 Report: Iran Among World’s Most Corrupt Countries

Transparency International in its latest annual report released on Tuesday, January 25, stated that Iran ranks 150th out of 180 countries in terms of the extent of financial corruption.

Only a handful of non-African countries such as North Korea, Venezuela, Turkmenistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen have worse conditions than Iran.

In terms of the extent of financial corruption, Iran is on par with Guatemala, Guinea, and Tajikistan.

Regarding corruption index rankings, this international body assigns countries scores from zero to 100, and the higher the score, the better a country’s transparency status. Iran’s score is 25, placing it among the most corrupt countries.

For the second consecutive year, Transparency International states that no significant positive changes are observed in transparency levels and anti-corruption efforts globally, with 131 countries having made no progress in fighting corruption over the past decade.

This report points to the direct relationship between financial corruption and human rights violations and democracy, stating that improvements in democracy and human rights conditions will lead to improvements in financial corruption levels worldwide.

Referencing high scores of countries such as Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, and Switzerland on the corruption index, this report notes that countries with high levels of democracy have been more successful in combating corruption.

The worst countries in terms of financial corruption are, respectively, South Sudan, Syria, Somalia, Venezuela, Yemen, and North Korea.

The report adds that 68 percent of countries scored below 50 on the corruption index last year: since 2012, 25 countries have shown significant improvement in their corruption index status, while 23 countries have deteriorated.

Source: Radio Farda