Every year, the Transparency International association compiles its Corruption Perception Index to rank countries according to their perceived level of public sector corruption. The 2023 report was published on Tuesday and with a score of 78 points, Luxembourg has managed a year-over-year improvement of one rank, climbing from tenth to ninth place.
The index, which monitors 180 countries, measures perceived corruption on a scale of 0 to 100. The lower the score, the greater the level of perceived corruption in the public sector.
More than two thirds of countries featured on the list have a score inferior to 50, which is considered to point to severe issues. 23 countries meanwhile recorded their worst ever scores in 2023. Denmark has managed to stay on top with a score of 90 while Somalia remained at the bottom with eleven points.
The authors of this latest report describe a global trend of judiciaries being weakened, which they say is happening both in authoritarian and democratic nations. This engenders greater levels of corruption as perpetrators are less fearful of being prosecuted for their actions.
While some countries have a comparably low corruption score, it has to be noted that certain issues are not reflected by the index and its methodology. For instance, multinational corporations tend to have their headquarters in high-performing countries while still conducting shady business operations in nations with higher corruption levels.
