European countries long associated with high standards of living and high respect for the rule of law dominate the newest list of the least corrupt countries in the world.
Seven of the 10 least corrupt countries in the latest edition of the "Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)" from Transparency International are from Europe while two are in Asia.
The 10 least corrupt countries according to the Corruption Perceptions Index are:
1. Denmark (score of 88)
2. New Zealand (87)
3. Finland (85)
3. Singapore (85)
3. Sweden (85)
3. Switzerland (85)
7. Norway (84)
8. Netherlands (82)
9. Canada (81)
9. Luxembourg (81)
The numbers inside the parentheses represent each country's ranking based on a 100-point scale. A higher score means people believe the government is less corrupt. The ranking is based on the trust that experts and business leaders have in public institutions.
Syria and Somalia, both of which are wracked by war and civil unrest, are at the bottom of the list. China was ranked 87th with a score of 39 compared to 41 in 2017.
The big surprise was the big fall by the United States -- due mainly to Trump's policies that hinder the creation of trust and frustrate transparency. The U.S. ranked 22nd in 2018 compared to 16th in 2017.
This is the lowest score given to the United States in seven years, said Zoe Reiter, Transparency International's acting representative to the U.S.
"The U.S. typically performs right toward the end of the top 20," said Reiter. "We've always been outperformed by our partner in the north -- Canada -- and many of the northern European countries. That said, what we are seeing is this trend toward declining trust, not by just the public but also by experts, in the strength of our democratic institutions."
Reiter said her organization sees Trump as a symptom of that eroding trust.
"What really is significant about the Trump presidency is the way in which he's bending existing norms. His lack of transparency regarding his assets, as well as his repeated attempts to undermine the Mueller investigation and attacks on the press, all of this is highly concerning."
Transparency International bewails the painful fact that two-thirds of the 180 countries and territories in its 2018 survey scored below 50, indicating a worsening of corruption worldwide. The 2018 index also reveals the vast majority of counties made little to no progress in mitigating corruption.
Hungary, which is ruled by right-wing dictator Viktor Orban, dropped nine points on the CPI and ranked 64th. Turkey, which is ruled by another right-wing dictator (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) fell eight points and ranked 78th.
"With many democratic institutions under threat across the globe -- often by leaders with authoritarian or populist tendencies -- we need to do more to strengthen checks and balances and protect citizens' rights," said Patricia Moreira, Managing Director of Transparency International.
"Corruption chips away at democracy to produce a vicious cycle, where corruption undermines democratic institutions and, in turn, weak institutions are less able to control corruption."
To put together its annual report, Transparency International drew from 13 surveys of businesspeople and expert assessments, including from the Bertelsmann Foundation, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and the World Economic Forum.
