Cameroon has lost 10 spots in the latest Corruption Perception Index. The country is the 145 least corrupt nation out of 175 countries, according to the 2016 Corruption Perception Index reported by Transparency International. The country was ranked 130 in 2015. Corruption Rank in Cameroon averaged 121.10 from 1996 until 2016, reaching an all-time high of 146 in 2009 and a record low of 49 in 1996.
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory’s rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories in the index. This page provides the latest reported value for – Cameroon Corruption Rank – plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. Cameroon Corruption Rank – actual data, historical chart and calendar of releases – was last updated on January 2017.
No country got close to a perfect score in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016. Over two-thirds of the 176 countries and territories in this year’s index fall below the midpoint of 0 our scale (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). The global average score is a paltry 43, indicating endemic corruption in a country’s public sector. Top-scoring countries are far outnumbered by orange and red countries where citizens face the tangible impact of corruption on a daily basis.
Connection Between corruption and inequality
This year’s results highlight the connection between corruption and inequality, which feed off each other to create a vicious circle between corruption, unequal distribution of power in society, and unequal distribution of wealth. According to José Ugaz, Chair of Transparency International “In too many countries, people are deprived of their most basic needs and go to bed hungry every night because of corruption, while the powerful and corrupt enjoy lavish lifestyles with impunity.”
The interplay of corruption and inequality also feeds populism. When traditional politicians fail to tackle corruption, people grow cynical. Increasingly, people are turning to populist leaders who promise to break the cycle of corruption and privilege. Yet this is likely to exacerbate – rather than resolve – the tensions that fed the populist surge in the first place.
The lower-ranked countries in the index are plagued by untrustworthy and badly functioning public institutions like the police and judiciary. Even where anti-corruption laws are on the books, in practice they’re often skirted or ignored. People frequently face situations of bribery and extortion, rely on basic services that have been undermined by the misappropriation of funds, and confront official indifference when seeking redress from authorities that are on the take.
Grand corruption thrives in such settings. Cases like Petrobras and Odebrecht in Brazil or the saga of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine show how collusion between businesses and politicians siphons off billions of dollars in revenue from national economies, benefitting the few at the expense of the many. This kind of systemic grand corruption violates human rights, prevents sustainable development and fuels social exclusion.
Higher-ranked countries tend to have higher degrees of press freedom, access to information about public expenditure, stronger standards of integrity for public officials, and independent judicial systems. But high-scoring countries can’t afford to be complacent, either. While the most obvious forms of corruption may not scar citizens’ daily lives in all these places, the higher-ranked countries are not immune to closed-door deals, conflicts of interest, illicit finance, and patchy law enforcement that can distort public policy and exacerbate corruption at home and abroad.
According to the Index, Somalia (176), South Sudan (175), North Korea (174), Syria (173) and Yemen (170) are the top five most corrupt countries in the world while New Zealand (1), Denmark (2), Finland (3), Sweden (4) and Switzerland (5) are the least corrupt nations in the world.
