T&T is 80 out of 176 in TI 2012 perception of corruption index

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Trinidad and Tobago raised its international profile in the annual Global Perception of Corruption Index (CPI) published Wednesday by Transparency International but still remained lower than some of its Caricom partners, most notably Barbados, which was ranked at 15 in the index of 176 countries. 

Trinidad and Tobago was at number 80, with a score of 39. It’s an 11 point improvement over 2011 when T&T was at 91 from a list of 183 countries. 

The top scorers on the 2012 index are Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, each scoring 90 points to tie in first place. Canada is at number nine.

The index is based on surveys conducted by Transparency International and is a “perception” index, which does not reflect the reality of corruption on the ground.

TI began the surveys in 1995 and Trinidad and Tobago was included in the Index for the first time in 2001 when it scored 5.3 out of 10 and was ranked 31 of 91 countries. 

It continued to decline every year after reaching a low of 79 in 2006 and 2007 although there were some fluctuations in between. It’s lowest score ever was in 2011 with a ranking of 91 of 183 countries. 

Trinidad and Tobago’s CPI Score from 2001-2011

Year	Score	Surveys	Range	Rank	Countries
2001	5.3	3	3.8-6.9	31	91
2002	4.9	4	3.6-6.9	33	102
2003	4.6	6	3.4-6.9	43	133
2004	4.2	6	3.6-5.2	51	146
2005	3.8	6	3.3-4.5	59	159
2006	3.2	5	2.8-3.6	79	163
2007	3.4	4	2.7-3.9	79	180
2008	3.6	4	3.1-4.0	72	180
2009	3.6	4	2.9-4.7	79	180
2010	3.6	4	3.0-4.3	73	178
2011	3.2	5	2.7-3.7	91	183

Commenting on the 2012 index at the launch of the report in Germany Wednesday, TI said two thirds of the 176 countries ranked in 2012 scored below 50.

“Governments need to integrate anti-corruption actions into all public decision-making. Priorities include better rules on lobbying and political financing, making public spending and contracting more transparent and making public bodies more accountable to people,” said Huguette Labelle, the Chair of Transparency International. 

“After a year of focus on corruption, we expect governments to take a tougher stance against the abuse of power,” Labelle said.