This year, only five countries from the post-Soviet space were able to improve their scores. Kyrgyzstan rose to 26 points, adding 1 point to last year's result. Positive changes were also noted in Azerbaijan (30 points, +8), Ukraine (36, +1), Latvia (60, +1), and Lithuania (65, +2). At the same time, the rankings worsened in Belarus (31, -2), Uzbekistan (31, -1), Kazakhstan (38, -2), Moldova (43, -1), Armenia (46, -1), and Georgia (50, -3). The results remained unchanged for Turkmenistan (17), Tajikistan (19), and Estonia (76).
As in previous years, Denmark (89 points), Finland (88), Singapore (84), and New Zealand (81) took the top spots in the Index. Norway, also scoring 81 points, entered the top five countries with the lowest levels of corruption for the first time.
The authors of the report emphasize that, on a global scale, corruption continues to escalate, even in those democratic countries that have traditionally been considered successful in combating it. They attribute this phenomenon to a weakening of political will on the part of state leaders.
