Top 10 Most Corrupt Countries In The World (*Globally*)

Not all governments are concerned with their citizens’ best interests. People in positions of authority often struggle to avoid the desire to utilize their positions for personal advantage, and many public workers in various countries have been implicated in political scandals and corruption.

Some countries’ histories of corruption have resulted in political turmoil between their governments and their citizens. Corruption is defined by Transparency International, a non-governmental organization located in Germany, as the abuse of public power for private gain. According to the organization’s most current Corruption Perceptions Index, the failure to effectively manage corruption is driving a global democratic catastrophe.

Here are the top 10 most corrupt countries in the world.

South Sudan

South Sudan has the world’s worst corruption. The country’s elites have created a kleptocratic regime that dominates every aspect of the economy in South Sudan. South Sudan was granted self-rule in 2005 while still being a part of Sudan, and full sovereignty was granted in 2011.

Even though the South Sudanese government has authorized multiple investigations into scandals, they are almost always disregarded or deliberately destroyed, according to the Africa Review in 2013.

President Salva Kiir Mayardit has consistently stated that his government is committed to tackling corruption, yet on April 12, 2013, he sacked the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation “for admitting that South Sudan is corrupt and ‘rotten to the core.’

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Syria

Syria is a country in Western Asia that is officially known as the Syrian Arab Republic. Human rights in Syria have long been a source of worry for independent organizations like Human Rights Watch, which described the country’s record as “among the worst in the world” in 2010.

Syria was rated “Not Free” in Freedom House’s annual Freedom in the World study, which is supported by the US State Department.

In August 2014, UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay chastised the international community for its “paralysis” in dealing with the countries more than 3-year-old civil war, which had resulted in 191,369 deaths by 30 April 2014, with war crimes committed with total impunity on all sides in the conflict, according to Pillay.

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Somalia

Corruption in Somalia refers to alleged levels of corruption in the public and private sectors, anti-graft efforts aimed at addressing those issues, as well as political dispensations and structural changes in government that affect transparency.

Due to the Transitional Federal Government’s alleged lack of transparency in the receiving and expenditure of public monies, a federal Anti-Corruption Commission was established in 2011 to deter and eliminate graft.

Transparency International’s 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index, which assesses public sector corruption perceptions around the world, put Somalia joint-worst.

In July 2012, the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea (SEMG) delivered a report to the UN Security Council alleging that roughly 70% of funding meant for development and reconstruction in Somalia went missing between 2009 and 2010.

The charges were refuted by President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who stated that a $3 million payment from the Sultanate of Oman went toward legitimate government expenses such as loans, security forces, and parliament.

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Venezuela

Venezuela’s considerable role in drug trafficking, with Colombian cocaine and other drugs traversing Venezuela on their way to the United States and Europe, exemplifies this corruption.

Venezuelan authorities seized the fifth-greatest overall amount of cocaine in the world between 2003 and 2008, trailing Colombia, the United States, Spain, and Panama. ONA, the government’s organization for combating illegal drug trafficking in Venezuela, was absorbed into the office of the country’s vice-president in 2006.

Many high-ranking government and military officials, on the other hand, have been linked to drug trafficking, most notably the October 2013 event in which members from the Venezuelan National Guard loaded 1.3 tonnes of cocaine onto a Paris airplane knowing they would not face charges.

Yemen

Yemen is a member of the Arab League, UN, Non-Aligned Movement, and Organization of Islamic Cooperation. It is classified as an LDC because of its multiple “serious structural barriers to long-term development.”

Yemen is the country with the most people in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations, with roughly 24 million people, or 85 percent of the population, in need of assistance in 2019. As of 2020, the country ranks first in the Fragile State Index, second in the Global Hunger Index (behind only the Central African Republic), and has the lowest Human Development Index among non-African countries.

The continuous humanitarian crisis and conflict have drawn widespread condemnation for deteriorating Yemen’s humanitarian situation, which some argue has reached the level of “humanitarian calamity” and even genocide, according to some. It has exacerbated the country’s already deteriorating human rights situation.

North Korea

In Transparency International’s 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index, North Korea is placed 175th out of 177 countries (tied with Somalia and Afghanistan).

Bribes to the police are often used to get over the regime’s strict rules and brutal sanctions, such as those barring accessing foreign media or changing radio or television receivers to access foreign media. It is becoming less frequent to spy on coworkers and family members.

When putting out the accusations against Jang Sung-take after his execution in December 2013, North Korea’s state media alluded to widespread corruption in the country.

Bribery, material deviation, selling resources and land, procuring funds, and wasting money for private use through organizations under his control are all included in the declaration.

Afghanistan

In today’s Afghanistan, the most common kind of corruption is the demand and offering of bribes, both in the private and public sectors and on large and small dimensions.

Nepotism, graft, and illicit land transfers are only a few examples of major forms of corruption. According to the US Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR), bribery accounts for more than half of the country’s annual customs revenue.

Corruption is a pervasive and rising issue in Afghanistan’s society. The country is ranked 177th out of 180 nations in Transparency International’s 2017 Corruption Perception Index.

Afghans denounce corruption on the one hand, yet they are increasingly accepting patronage and bribery as unavoidable and even normal components of daily life.

According to a UN poll from 2012, 68 percent of Afghans said it was appropriate for state workers to supplement their salaries by charging bribes to service customers. This was an increase from the previous year’s 42%. Furthermore, 67 percent thought it was acceptable for certain federal workers to be hired based on family ties and friendship networks.

Libya

For decades, Libya has been subjected to numerous allegations of government, militia, and large oil company corruption.

Libya’s corruption stems from what political scientists refer to as the “resource curse,” a term used to characterize a country with a lot of natural resources but little economic progress and a poor democracy. Oil production has left the country vulnerable to corruption, resulting in civil war as a result of ongoing bloodshed and political upheaval.

According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, Libya was placed 170th out of 175 nations in terms of corruption in 2018. Libya likewise had a dismal 17 out of 100 in the Corruption Perception Index in the same year. The government, the public sector, and private corporations are the primary sources of corruption.

Equatorial Guinea

Guinea was placed 142nd out of 176 nations in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index in 2016. Guinea received a 27 out of 100 on the rating for the perceived amount of public sector corruption. This is the country’s highest anti-corruption rating since 2006.

In 2008, the lowest score, 16 points, was achieved. Guinea’s immense natural resources have maintained a worldwide interest in the country, particularly in the mining sector, but have also resulted in a slew of corruption scandals during the last sixty years.

Guinea is one of Africa’s ten most mineral-rich countries, but it is also one of the world’s poorest countries. 73.8 percent of the population is multidimensionally poor, and another 12.7 percent is on the verge of becoming multidimensionally poor.

Turkmenistan

‘The Wall Street Journal’s Index of Economic Freedom ranks the country at the bottom of numerous annual indices that assess corruption. The country is ranked 167th out of 180 nations in Transparency International’s 2017 Corruption Perception Index.

Turkmenistan was dubbed “the only former Soviet country whose loans have been withheld due to corruption suspicions” by World Bank Vice President Johannes Linn in 2000. Due to “alleged fraud and corruption – including bribe payments to Turkmen authorities in an attempt to obtain contracts for Bank-funded projects,” five Western corporations have been “barred from working on any World Bank projects” in Turkmenistan.