SVG ranks fourth in Caribbean Corruption Perceptions Index

St. Vincent and the Grenadines has ranked fourth in the Caribbean, and 36th of 183 countries surveyed, in a 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) compiled by Transparency International.{{more}}

In the report, which was released on December 1, 2011, New Zealand emerged first with a score of 9.5, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 10 means that a country is perceived as very clean. A country’s rank indicates its position relative to the other countries/territories included in the index.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines was given a score of 5.8.

For the Caribbean, the highest ranking, or “cleanest” country was Barbados, which ranked 16th overall with a score of 7.8. Second was the Bahamas with a score of 7.3 and a rank of 21st. In third place was St. Lucia, with a score of 7, and a rank of 25th. Dominica ranked 44th with a score of 5.2, Jamaica 86th with a score of 3.3 and Trinidad 91st with a score of 3.2.

According to the Transparency International website, the CPI ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. It is a composite index, a combination of polls, drawing on corruption-related data collected by a variety of reputable institutions. The CPI reflects the views of observers from around the world, including experts living and working in the countries/territories evaluated.

Transparency International defines Corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.

The data sources used to compile the index include questions relating to the abuse of public power and focus on: bribery of public officials, kickbacks in public procurement, embezzlement of public funds, and on questions that probe the strength and effectiveness of anti-corruption efforts in the public sector. As such, it covers both the administrative and political aspects of corruption. In producing the index, the scores of countries/territories for the specific corruption-related questions in the data sources are combined to calculate a single score for each country.

Two countries, Somalia and North Korea, tied for last place (182nd), scoring 1.0.