Report: Signs of corruption backsliding amid pandemic

Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) regarding the public sector outlines worrying signs of backsliding in Europe in 2021, while showing that Greece also has work to do.

More specifically, in its annual report on Tuesday it showed that with a score of 49/100, Greece dropped by eight places to 58th out of 180 countries around the world, from 50th in 2020, when it received a score of 59. The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

The global NGO said Western Europe and the EU remains the highest scoring region, but progress has halted, with countries dropping in rankings. Some commentators highlighted possible risks regarding the efficient use of EU funds for the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Denmark, Finland and Norway remained the EU countries perceived as the least corrupt.