Jeon Hyun-Heui, chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, on Jan. 31 holds a briefing at Government Complex-Seoul to announce Korea's ranking in the Corruption Perception Index last year. (Yonhap News)

By Lee Jihae 

A global study evaluating national transparency has placed Korea 31st out of 180 countries, the nation's highest rank in the survey and up a notch from last year. 

Transparency International (TI) on Jan. 31 released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). 

By nation, Denmark topped the list with 90 points, followed by Finland and New Zealand tied for second with 87, Norway fourth with 84, and Singapore and Sweden both fifth with 83.

Korea's rank rose for the sixth consecutive year since it enacted the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act in 2016, when the country finished 52nd with 53 points. The nation placed 51st in 2017, 45th in 2018, 39th in 2019, 33rd in 2020 and 32nd in 2021.

Korea also ranked 22nd among the 38 member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

This year, Korea in the CPI finished a point higher than last year with a score of 63.

In other surveys, Korea saw a 17-point jump (55 to 72) from 2021 in the survey of the Economic Intelligence Unit, which gauges public resource management; a single-point rise (54 to 55) in that of Political and Economic Risk Consultancy and a hike of four points (53 to 57) in that of the International Institute for Management Development.

TI-Korea said Korea continued its rise to earn its highest score in history thanks to higher public awareness and the efforts of all economic entities like the government.

In the Asia-Pacific region, New Zealand topped the rankings at second overall, trailed by Singapore (fifth), Hong Kong (12th), Australia (13th), Japan (18th) and Taiwan (25th) as all of them finished higher than Korea.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo last month in the inaugural meeting on inspecting major national tasks announced a goal of raising the country's ranking to the top 20. 

Transparency International (TI) on Jan. 31 released its 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and the map above. The brighter the color of a country, the higher the transparency. (Screen capture from TI's website)

jihlee08@korea.kr