Corruption Perceptions Index 2023 |31 January 2024
Seychelles’ ranking improved
Seychelles has improved its score on the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index and is now ranked 20th globally.
With a score of 71, Seychelles takes the lead among sub-Saharan African states, sharing the same ranking as Austria, France and the United Kingdom.
The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), produced by the global coalition against Corruption Transparency International, ranks countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption.
In total, 180 countries are scored between 0 and 100, with 0 meaning it is highly corrupt.
President Wavel Ramkalawan expressed pride at the achievement, as a display of the administration’s commitment in ensuring that transparency and good governance remain at the core of decisions and actions.
“As a country, we will continue to strive to improve our CPI ranking whilst also ensuring we maintain the integrity, credibility and confidence in our public institutions. Seychelles remains steadfast in its quest to eliminate corruption and increase public trust,” President Ramkalawan said in a statement.
Seychelles has seen an improvement from its overall score of 70 in the 2022 CPI.
Despite a slight improvement, neighbouring Mauritius is ranked 55, with a score of 51, while Madagascar’s score has declined from 2022, with the country securing 25 points, and 145th rank.
The recently published CPI shows that “corruption is thriving across the world,” Transparency International has stated.
Chair of the organisation, François Valérian has once again iterated a call for leaders to commit to tackling corruption.
“Corruption will continue to thrive until justice systems can punish wrongdoing and keep governments in check. When justice is bought or politically interfered with, it is the people that suffer.
Leaders should fully invest in and guarantee the independence of institutions that uphold the law and tackle corruption. It is time to end impunity for corruption,” he emphasised.
The CPI for this year indicates that out of 180 countries, only 28 have improved their perceived corruption level in the past 12 years, while 34 countries have seen a notable increase in corruption.
Seychelles is categorised among the 28 that improved considerably in democracy, income and previous corruption levels, alongside Guyana (40) and Ukraine (36).
Meanwhile, significant declines have been observed in high-ranking democracies including the UK (71) and Sweden (82). Corruption has also worsened in authoritarian states such as Myanmar (20) and Venezuela (13).
The global average CPI score is 43.
Denmark holds the top spot for the sixth consecutive year in the latest ranking, scoring 90. Finland and New Zealand are close behind, with scores of 87 and 85.
Other countries in the top 10 include Norway (84), Singapore (83), Sweden (82), Switzerland (82), the Netherlands (79), Germany (78), and Luxembourg (78).
The CPI scores countries based on data from 13 independent sources.
Laura Pillay