Bangladesh’s score slightly improves on Corruption Perception Index 2017 TIB calls on Government to be more stringent against corruption

Bangladesh has scored 28 on a scale of 0-100 according to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2017 released by Transparency International (TI) on February 21 2018. Bangladesh's score in 2017 is two point higher than in 2016. In a list of 180 countries, Bangladesh is ranked 17th from below, which is two steps higher than in 2016. Bangladesh remains well below the global average of 43 which indicates moderate success in controlling corruption. Among the eight South Asian countries, Bangladesh continue to be the second worst performer after Afghanistan.

Releasing the CPI 2017 findings in its head office in Dhaka at morning on 22 February 2018, Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh urged the government to take stern measures against the corrupt, without fear or favour. “The prospect of doing better in CPI will depend on their application and enforcement. Corruption must be a punishable offence not only on paper but also in practice without fear or favour”, Dr. Zaman said. TIB Trustee Board Member M Hafizuddin Khan; and Professor Dr. Sumaiya Khair, TIB Adviser- Executive Management were present during the press conference.

Pointing to alarming outcome from further analysis of the index which indicates that countries with the lowest protections for press and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also tend to have the worst rates of corruption, Dr. Zaman said it also applies to Bangladesh. He stressed that strong political will to fight corruption is a must and institutions of accountability and rule of law must be allowed to function independently and effectively free from partisan influence. He also said that conducive environment must be created_at for people at large, particularly media, civil society, and NGOs to raise and strengthen the demand for accountability.

According to the findings of CPI 2017, New Zealand and Denmark rank highest with scores of 89 and 88 respectively. Syria, South Sudan and Somalia rank lowest with scores of 14, 12 and 9 respectively. This year, the index found that more than two-thirds of countries score below 50, with an average score of 43. The best performing region is Western Europe with an average score of 66. The worst performing regions are Sub-Saharan Africa (average score 32) and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (average score 34).

As in previous years, Bhutan is the best performer in South Asia with a score of 67, ranked 26th from the top in the global list, followed by India ranked 81st with a score of 40. Sri Lanka scored 38 with 91st in the rank, followed by the Maldives that scored 33 with 112th position. Pakistan scored 32 securing 117th position while Nepal scored 31 with 122nd position. Afghanistan ranked 177th with score of 15.

Launched in 1995, CPI provides international comparison of countries by perceived prevalence of corruption understood in terms of abuse of entrusted power. It is a survey of surveys (13 in 2017) conducted by reputed international organisations. Information used in CPI relates to corruption in the public sector, particularly political and administrative; conflict of interest; unauthorised payment in the delivery of government functions, and in justice, executive, law enforcement and tax collection. The government's capacity to control corruption is also considered.

CPI is produced by the research department of TI Secretariat in Berlin. CPI methodology has been designed by experts from Departments of Statistics and Political Science of Columbia University and Department of Political Science, Bocconi University, Italy. Scores are validated by Herrtie School of Governance, German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), and Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Mexico.

CPI 2017 data for Bangladesh came from eight sources: Economist Intelligence Unit Country Risk ratings 2017, World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey 2017, Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index 2017-2018, Global Insight Country Risk Ratings 2016, Political Risk Services International Country Risk Guide 2017, World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 2017, World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2017-2018 and Varieties of Democracy Project Dataset 2017. Data period was from 2016 to 2017.

No nationally generated data, including TI or TIB’s research or that of any other national chapter of TI is considered for the CPI. Unlike TI chapters of other countries, TI Bangladesh releases corruption perception index only. 

According to CPI 2017, despite attempts to combat corruption around the world, the majority of countries are moving too slowly in their efforts. This year, the index found that more than two-thirds of countries score below 50.

Bangladesh was earlier placed at the bottom of the list for five successive years from 2001-2005. In 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 Bangladesh was ranked at no 3, 7, 10, 13, and 12 respectively while in 2011 and 2012 we were 13th, 16th in 2013, 14th in 2014, 13th in 2015 and 15th in 2016. 

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