India ranks 96th with a score of 38 in Transparency International's recently released 'Corruption Perceptions Index' (CPI). Last year, India's score was 39, and it stood at the 93rd position in the list.
The index evaluates 180 countries and territories based on expert and business perceptions of public sector corruption. The CPI uses a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 is considered very clean and countries with zero scores are considered highly corrupt.
In 2014, almost a decade ago, India's rank was 85 with a score of 38. In 10 years' time, India has slipped considerably in ranking, which indicates an increase in corruption after the NDA government took over at the Centre.
In the latest CPI Index, no country received a full score. Denmark tops the index with a score of 90 perception points. Finland ranked second with a score of 88, and Singapore stood 3rd with a score of 84.
Check the list of the top 10 least corrupt countries here:
List of the top 10 least corrupt countries | Transparency International
Among India's neighboring countries, Pakistan ranked 135th in the list of 180 countries, Bangladesh 151st, Sri Lanka 121st, Afghanistan 165th, and China 76th.
According to the Transparency International report, "While 32 countries have significantly reduced their corruption levels since 2012, there's still a huge amount of work to be done – 148 countries have stayed stagnant or gotten worse during the same period. The global average of 43 has also stood still for years, while over two-thirds of countries score below 50. Billions of people live in countries where corruption destroys lives and undermines human rights."