According to the annual survey by the Berlin-based organization Transparency International, in 2006, Haiti was perceived to be the most corrupt country in the world. The index defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain and measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among a country's public officials and politicians.
The Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog said that for the first time, Haiti topped the table.
The survey relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption in different countries, as seen by business people, academics and risk analysts.
Bangladesh had headed the rankings for the previous five years. The chair of TI, Hugette Labelle, said that there was a strong correlation between corruption and poverty.
"Corruption traps millions in poverty," she said.
"Despite a decade of progress in establishing anti-corruption laws and regulations, today's results indicate that much remains to be done before we see meaningful improvements in the lives of the world's poorest citizens."Corruption was perceived as being "rampant" in 71 of the countries studied. Among those whose corruption had worsened in the past year were Brazil, Tunisia and the US, TI said.
It added that the Czech Republic, Latvia and Uruguay were among those whose perception had improved. "While the industrialised countries score relatively high, we continue to see major corruption scandals in many of these countries," TI said. "Although corruption in this context may have less impact on poverty and development than in developing countries, these scandals demonstrate that there is no room for complacency."
