China was 79th. Russia was 146.

And France was 24th?! Wow... this seems so strange to me.

It was for me at first blush as well. But, I think it shows that the residents of those countries have more faith in their institutions than we do. It's not surprising - most societies propagandize against other societies.

It also could have something to do with awareness of what goes on in your country. The most corrupt countries also seem to be the most open about problems, whereas countries that censor what the media informs the public about may do well simply because the general population isn't even aware of problems/issues within their government.

If it was people voting about corruption of their own country that is.

"I was really shocked America was only the 18th most courpt country in the world."

Just to be persnickety, the U.S. was the 18th most perceived corrupt country, not the 18th most corrupt.

You're interpreting the data incorrectly.

From their site: The country with the lowest score is the one where corruption is perceived to be greatest among those included in the list. There are more than 200 sovereign nations in the world, and the latest CPI 2008 ranks 180 of them.

That's a really good point, Yoga. I think you are right. That would explain China being so low on the list.

So the most perceived corrupt country was actually the country "ranked 180" i.e. Somalia

The fact that US ranked high is a good thing, it means we're one of the least perceived corrupt countries in the world.

And when I say corrupt countries, I mean corrupt according to this study.

Just remember, perception is not necessarily reality.

Did anyone read my comment?

180 = the number 1 most corrupt country

1 = the least corrupt country

The title of this post should read

US Perceived as the 18th least corrupt country in the world

Haha! Sy - thanks for taking the time to figure that out! My brain was still hurting!

yeah, this is backwards. low scores are good, high scores are bad.

Syako, I think you're interpreting it incorrectly - as I understand it.

"The rank shows how one country compares to others included in the index. The CPI score indicates the perceived level of public-sector corruption in a country/territory."

The numbers are in order of highest to lowest. The Us had a score of 7.5, China had a score of 3.6. Therefore our corruption is perceived to be higher.

well, if that's the case, I'm actually quite impressed that the citizens of the countries that international media tends to point as the most corrupt are viewed by their own citizens as that corrupt. It's a sign that the media is making people more aware of what their governments are doing.

I posted the FAQ straight from their Web site... I will repeat it once again:

The country with the lowest score is the one where corruption is perceived to be greatest among those included in the list. There are more than 200 sovereign nations in the world, and the latest CPI 2008 ranks 180 of them.

from forbes.com...under a 3 means rampant corruption.

again, low = bad; high = good

Can I get a second opinion of this? I don't want to post something inaccurate.

Also, according to the linked source, the U.S. is listed as 19th, not 18th.

Skg, can you edit this post please? Thanks!

"Transparency International developed its index on a scale from 0 to 10, with the lowest number indicating the highest perception of corruption. The index is based on worldwide surveys of country specialists, business officials, human rights monitors and others."

When I read that Russia fared better than U.S. as the poster was interpreting it, it made me literally laugh out loud. Then, it made me click on the link and go to the site and see what was really going on.

There's no way America is more corrupt than Russia. You can't do anything in Russia without bribing a lot of people. It's a sad state of affairs in that country. Want to open a business? Pay off the mob, the police, the government, and continue to pay them off.

Okay, that's good enough for me. Let me correct this headline.

I regret the error.

"Is the country with the lowest score the world's most corrupt country?

No. The country with the lowest score is the one where corruption is perceived to be greatest among those included in the list. There are more than 200 sovereign nations in the world, and the latest CPI 2008 ranks 180 of them. The CPI provides no information about countries that are not included.

Example: What is implied by Somalia’s ranking in the CPI 2008?

Corruption in Somalia has been perceived to be the highest in the CPI 2008. This does not, however, indicate that Somalia is the ‘world’s most corrupt country’ or that Somalians are the ‘most corrupt people’. While corruption is indeed one of the most formidable challenges to good governance, development and poverty reduction in Somalia, the vast majority of the people are victims of corruption. Corruption by powerful individuals, and failure of leaders and institutions to control or prevent corruption, does not imply that a country or its people are most corrupt.

In the same light, New Zealand – whose perceived public sector corruption is the lowest of the 180 countries surveyed – is not necessarily the ‘world’s least corrupt country’ – and New Zealanders are not in turn immune to corruption. Though its institutional and governance framework have translated into what is perceived to be a success, with limited corruption, New Zealand – like any other state – remains susceptible to corruption. "

http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/faq...

Here's a link to that FAQ.

Here is the complete list:
http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi...

For reference, New Zealand is perceived as least corrupt, and poor Somalia is perceived as most corrupt.

And again, the U.S. is number 19.

I don't know if anyone else here is a first amendment nerd, but I always find it neat to hold the study of corruption up against the free press index studies. (http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/classement_en.pdf)

I think a free press should be a good predictor of whether a country is perceived as corrupt. You know, the fourth estate and what not.

For instance, Somalia is ranked 164 for free press index, Russia is ranked 153. On the other hand, Denmark is second least corrupt, and number 1 for free press.

My confusion was when I was told that Mexico was less corrupt than the US I knew it must have been messed up somewhere

Interesting...even when updated! Thanks SpaceKat.

It's interesting data either way. I am really amazed with all of the corporate corruption lately that the US isn't considered to be far more corrupt. I think there's some real resiliency to the Western system, though.

And hey - mistakes are inevitable. I'm still embarrassed, though .

SKG - we all make mistakes. If you ever read the "City Book" that ranks all the major U.S. cities in america, for some of the indices it's better have a lower number, but on other indices it's better to have a higher number, it can get so confusing!

I think the distinction between score and ranking was also confusing. The FAQ points out that a lower score correlates to being perceived as more corrupt, but the numbers skg copied are the ranking numbers, not the scores. For scores, lower is better, but for rankings, lower is worse.

Not trying to sound condescending, but do you or people you know have any personal experience with real government corruption like those in many former soviet union states or perhaps war-torn African countries?

I just think this "corporate corruption" you speak of is apples to oranges when you talk about systemic corruption of the third world.

I was completely shocked (still am) when I hear stories about bribery and other forms of corruptions that's rampant today in my husband's home country. It's mind blowing to me, actually.

Oh and of course don't be embarrassed.

How about first hand experience in Afghanistan?
We sometimes benefit from corruption and political instability in third world countries so probably should be careful about patting ourselves on the back too hard.

I didn't say that we didn't... and I didn't mean to only think of two or three countries with real corruption problems.

And who is patting whom on the back?

I mean, look at this list... Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Chad, Iraq, Sudan, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Somalia

Life in these countries (especially Myanmar!) is going to be fundamentally different in terms of corruption than life in the states.

I see some are surprised but isn't this based on 13 (business) surveys? If that's the case I'm not surprised at all however if it were based on political corruption I'm sure countries like China would be higher and we would be lower.