Transparency international released their annual numbers on corruption around the world, and would you believe it, Denmark edged Zimbabwe out by 165 places to clinch the number one spot.

Each year the organization dedicated to fighting corruption compiles data from a variety of sources to publish this list as a means to raise public awareness and point to the rampant corruption around the globe. Despite the ongoing failures on Wall Street and among the upper ranks in the financial sector, this year the United states is ranked at number 18, surprisingly just above Japan. The five least countries in ascending order were:

• Denmark
• Sweden
• New Zealand
• Singapore
• Finland
  

while the lowest in descending order were:

• Afghanistan
• Haiti
• Iraq
• Myanmar
• Somalia
  

Incidentally, the most corrupt countries are also those with the least stable governments, poorest infrastructures and poorest economies. Funny how those things go hand in hand, isn't it?

You can check out the wealth of statistics and better explanations of the system over at transparency.org, including a dandy corruption map and complete list of nations and their ranks.

Filed under: Activism, Somalia, Denmark