Every year countries get ranked on a scale from best to worst. There’s no real reason to do it apart from bragging rights, but we can’t resist doing it over and over again anyway. And while the list of which are the best and worst countries might not be so interesting, it does get a bit more enticing if we look at specific factors that are a part of this global score.
One of the most juicy indexes on which the ratings are based is the Corruption Perceptions Index. And yes, this basically comes down to how much a country is perceived as being corrupt. This says nothing about how corrupt the country actually is, but it does give you some insight into how people think politics, economy and the justice system work in those countries. Join us for a deep dive straight into some of the most corrupt countries in the world.
El Salvador
The beautiful El Salvador sadly is the 9th most perceived-as-corrupt country in the world. And honestly, it’s not a very good country when we look at the global number either: El Salvador ranks 77th. Ouch. They have some nice nature, though.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan – very nice! While Borat may have gone above and beyond to make this country more known to the general populace (and Kazakhstan is finally embracing him), they still score 7th on the corruption index with only a 72nd spot on the overall rating.
Brazil
Here’s a surprise! The land of samba, carnival and football ranks a whopping 4th on the corruption index, meaning that even considering their weird president there’s still 3 countries out there that do worse. But even more surprising is the 26th overall spot. So for one of the most corrupt countries in the world, it’s actually not a bad place to live. How weird is that?
Azerbaijan
This country is perceived as the 10th corrupt country and scores a middle-of-the-pack 66 on the ranking of the best countries overall. That might not be anything to write home about, but not too bad either considering this is a densely populated country in the Caucasus.
Guatemala
If you’re gonna be next to El Salvador, you’re probably going to pick up a thing or two. Not only are they an overall better country with the 69th spot, they’ve also somehow managed to snag the 6th spot on the corruption index.
Mexico
And to finish off the central America triumvirate, Mexico comes in at a big 3rd spot on the corruption index with a 31st spot in overall happiness. Yet another country where being corrupt doesn’t seem to imply you’re doing a bad job. In fact, Mexico is also the 3rd best country on this list overall. Very weird.
Lebanon
The Middle East is always going to appear a bit less-democratic than Western countries, so I suppose that doesn’t help in Lebanon’s 8th spot. It also only scores a 74th place on the general world ranking, so in all fairness it doesn’t really sound like a pleasant place to live.
Colombia
We mentioned earlier that a couple of countries actually do worse (or better?) on the corruption scale than Brazil, and Columbia is one of them. They nabbed the 2nd spot, and still somehow have a 54th place overall. Compared to some of the numbers we’ve seen, that’s not too bad. It’s not Mexico, but it’s not El Salvador either.
Russia
Russia showing up in this list is probably not a surprise to anyone, and they end up with a pretty mediocre 5th spot on the corruption index. Overall, though, they’re the 24th best country to live in. That’s insanely high – and the highest on this list!
Iraq
Sometimes, logic wins. Yes, the country in the world with the most perceived corruption is indeed Iraq. And while we’ve seen some – mostly South-American – countries with high corruption rates and a pretty good score on the overall ranking, Iraq only scores a 78th spot. The fact that the United States bombed this country to freedom probably has something to do with that.
