Bangladesh’s disappointing position in TI corruption index

Transparency International (TI) has been publishing the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) every year since 1995. The CPI attempts to quantify the level of corruption in countries across the world, and since Bangladesh's admission in the index in 2001, it has consistently scored low in terms of transparency and ranked high among the most corrupt countries in the world.

In the CPI 2023, Bangladesh was ranked joint 10th from below, scoring a measly 24 out of 100, tied alongside the Central African Republic, Zimbabwe, Iran, and Lebanon.

HOW ARE COUNTRIES SCORED ON THE CPI?

Quantifying corruption is difficult, especially if a country is already perceived to be corrupt and the data that is nationally available is unreliable. According to Transparency International, no nationally generated data are included in CPI. In the case of Bangladesh, for example, data from Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) is not included either.

The data that are used for the CPI is sourced from the 13 international surveys, and a country can only be included in the CPI if at least three of these surveys have data available for the country.

Bangladesh's CPI score is based on the data from these eight surveys -- World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey 2023, Economist Intelligence Unit Country Risk Service 2023, World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2023, The PRS Group International Country Risk Guide 2023, Bertelsmann Stiftung Transformation Index 2024, Global Insight Country Risk Ratings 2022, World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 2022, and Varieties of Democracy Project 2023.

The data from these organisations are standardised on a scale between 0 and 100, using simple statistical operations detailed on the transparency.org website. After that, the scores are averaged to find the CPI score.

CPI 2023 scores were based on data obtained between November 2020 and September 2023. In this scoring system, lower scores indicate a higher degree of corruption perception.

The ranking can be read from the bottom or from the top. Bangladesh is ranked 149th from the top, and 10th from the bottom.

BANGLADESH'S CORRUPTION SITUATION COMPARED TO OUR OWN HISTORY

While Bangladesh has historically scored low in the CPI, there have been periods when Bangladesh managed to improve its score and better its ranking. From being a world champion in corruption for five years in a row between 2001 and 2005, Bangladesh gradually improved its ranking until 2013, when it ranked 16th from below, meaning Bangladesh was the 16th most corrupt country in the world that year. In 2017, Bangladesh achieved its best score, 28, and best ranking, 17th.

But scores have declined since then, and the ranking has started moving in the wrong direction.

In 2023, Bangladesh is back among the top 10 corrupt countries in the world for the first time since 2008. Bangladesh's score of 24 is the lowest it has been since the current scoring system was adopted in 2012.

BANGLADESH'S CPI PERFORMANCE COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE REGION

Bangladesh is the second most corrupt country in South Asia. Only Afghanistan fares worse. With a score of 20, Afghanistan is the 6th most corrupt country in the world.

Pakistan, ranked 133rd from the top, has a better score than Bangladesh, with 29, followed by Sri Lanka and Nepal with 34 and 35 respectively.

India and Maldives are joint second in the region and 93rd in the world (from the top), with 39 points.

Bhutan, with 68, is the only country in South Asia who have scored above the global average of 43.

GLOBAL BENCHMARKS AND TRENDS

The global average score this year is 43. Fifty-eight percent of the countries score below the global average of 43. This means, according to the CPI, 105 countries in the world have a "very serious corruption problem".

The index states that a score below 50 indicates a "serious corruption problem", and 122 countries fall below that threshold.

In the last 12 years, developed countries like Australia, and Canada have lost 10 and 8 points respectively, indicating a rise in corruption. However, these countries still have a relatively high score in 2023–75 and 76 respectively.

Other notable countries in the developed world who have scored well are Germany with 78 (ranked 9th from the top), the UK and France both with 71 (ranked 20th), and the USA with 69 (ranked 24th).

China has a score of 42, ranking at 76, while Russia scores only 26, ranking 141th in the world.

The least corrupt nation in the world this year is Denmark, scoring 90. The most corrupt is Somalia, with a score of 11.

WHAT DOES THE CPI ACTUALLY MEASURE AND WHAT BANGLADESH'S RANKING MEAN?

According to TI, the data sources that the CPI uses specifically cover public sector corruption that manifest in the form of bribery, diversion of public funds, abuse of public office for private gain without consequences, excessive red tape in the public sector, and nepotistic appointments in the civil service.

The CPI data sources also encompass mechanisms that may help to control corruption – the existence of laws ensuring disclosure of finances and potential conflicts of interest for public officials, legal protection for whistleblowers, and access to information on public affairs.

Bangladesh's low ranking essentially means that Bangladesh has performed badly, according to TI and the eight organisations from which they have collected data on Bangladesh, on these important factors that contribute to the perception of corruption in the country.