The 10 best and worst countries for corruption

Following is a list of the top- and bottom-ranked 10 nations – plus some key economies in the mid-range – on graft watchdog Transparency International’s 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index, published Wednesday.

The watchdog uses data from institutions including the World Bank, the African Development Bank and business school IMD to compile the perceptions of the scale of public sector corruption.

The score runs from zero, which is highly corrupt, to 100, which is very clean.

The equals symbol means nations share the same rank.

Top 10 countries with the least corruption (highest score)

1. Denmark 91

2. Finland 90

3. Sweden 89

4. New Zealand 88

5. Netherlands 87

= Norway 87

7. Switzerland 86

8. Singapore 85

9. Canada 83

10. Germany 81

= Luxembourg 81

= United Kingdom 81

Countries in the middle 

15. Belgium 77

16. United States 76

18. Japan 75

23. France 70

28. Portugal 63

36. Spain 58

61. Italy 44

= South Africa 44

66. Turkey 42

76. Brazil 38

= India 38

83. China 37

119. Russia 29

Top 10 countries with the most corruption (lowest score)

158. Haiti 17

= Venezuela

161. Iraq 16

= Libya 16

163. Angola 15

= South Sudan 15

165. Sudan 12

166. Afghanistan 11

167. North Korea 8

= Somalia 8