Earlier this year, Transparency International (TI) - a global movement that works with governments, businesses, and citizens to stop the abuse of power - released its latest Corruption Perceptions Index.
The report concluded that over "two-thirds of countries score below 50, with an average score of 43." Furthermore, it highlighted that the majority of states are hardly making any progress when it comes to ending corruption.
In the Arab world, a region stricken by instability and violent conflicts, corruption remains endemic.
In this environment, it is unsurprising that 16 out of the 21 Arab states included in the report scored below 50 in the Corruption Perceptions Index; Palestine was excluded from the ranking.
Based on the data findings of the report, we ranked Arab countries by their level of corruption (from least corrupt to most corrupt):
(Note: The index ranked 180 countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and analysts, using a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.)
1. UAE (21 globally)
Score: 71/100
2. Qatar (29 globally)
Score: 63/100
3. Saudi Arabia (57 globally)
Score: 49/100
4. Jordan (59 globally)
Score: 48/100
5. Oman (68 globally)
Score: 44/100
6. Tunisia (74 globally)
Score: 42/100
7. Morocco (81 globally)
Score: 40/100
8. Kuwait (85 globally)
Score: 39/100
9. Bahrain (103 globally)
Score: 36/100
10. Algeria (112 globally)
Score: 33/100
11. Egypt (117 globally)
Score: 32/100
12. Djibouti (122 globally)
Score: 31/100
13. Lebanon (143 globally)
Score: 28/100
13. Mauritania (143 globally)
Score: 28/100
14. Comoros (148 globally)
Score: 27/100
15. Iraq (169 globally)
Score: 18/100
16. Libya (171 globally)
Score: 17/100
17. Yemen (175 globally)
Score: 16/100
17. Sudan (175 globally)
Score: 16/100
18. Syria (178 globally)
Score: 14/100
19. Somalia (180 globally)
Score: 9/100
Overview of the Corruption Perceptions Index:
New Zealand, Denmark, and Switzerland ranked highest with scores of 89, 88, and 85 respectively, while Syria, South Sudan, and Somalia ranked lowest with scores of 14, 12, and 9.
Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen were the worst performing Arab states on the index.
With an average score of 66, Western Europe remains the best performing region. The worst performing areas are Sub-Saharan Africa (average score 32) as well as Eastern Europe and Central Asia (average score 34.)
Since 2012, numerous Arab nations have significantly improved their index score, including Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and the UAE, while several countries declined, including Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.
You can check last year's Corruption Perceptions Index here.