- Pakistan ranks 124 out of 180 countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index 2020
- In 2019, Pakistan ranked 120th on the global corruption list and 117 in 2018
- TI Pakistan chairperson says country’s score this year lowered despite billions of rupees recoveries made by NAB and Public Accounts Committee
ISLAMABAD: Corruption in Pakistan is perceived to have increased compared to last year as the country now ranks 124 out of 180 countries, four places down from 2019’s ranking, on a global corruption perceptions list prepared by Transparency International (TI), an international non-governmental organisation based in Berlin.
The Berlin-based non-profit releases the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) every year, ranking 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people.
Pakistan lost four positions in 2020 compared to 2019 and seven positions compared to 2018. In 2019, Pakistan ranked 120th on the global corruption list and 117 in 2018.
In neighbouring countries, the corruption score of India, Iran and Nepal also worsened by one point and Malaysia’s by two points. On the other hand, Afghanistan’s corruption score improved by 3 and Turkey’s by 1.
Why did Pakistan score less than last year?
Pakistan’s score in CPI 2020 has lowered to 31/100 from 32/100 in 2019 and rank to 124/180 from 120/180 in 2019.
This is despite efforts of NAB which claims to have recovered Rs363 billion in the last two years and the Public Accounts Committee claiming recoveries of Rs300 billion in over two years.
TI Pakistan Chairperson Sohail Muzaffar says Pakistan has scored less than last year on two counts: the rule of law index and varieties of democracy.
The questions asked by the rule of law index and varieties of democracy, he said, are about the corruption of government officials through legislatures (parliament), executives (bureaucracy), judiciary, police and military.
Muzaffar said that the government has to improve its performance in these four sectors.
How is the CPI score calculated?
CPI uses a scale of 0 to 100 to rank nations, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. Pakistan’s score — 31/100 — is one below its score last year and well below the CPI average for the year 2020.
Pakistan ranked at the 117th place for the years 2017 and 2018.
The country had scored 33/100 on the CPI in 2018 and 32/100 in 2017. Although Pakistan’s score on the index has not changed much compared to the past year, changes in the scores of other countries on the list can be one reason why Pakistan slipped in the ranking.