In its survey, Transparency International says Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tied for the first place as the least corrupt countries due to a “strong access to information systems and rules governing the behaviour of those in public positions” while Somalia, North Korea and Afghanistan remain rooted to the foot of the table in the Corruption Perceptions Index, with each of them scoring eight points.

176 countries were ranked with scores on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean).

According to the report, the levels of bribery, abuse of power and secret dealings are still very high in many countries in the world.

“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.

The following is a list of the top and bottom-ranked nations on corruption watchdog Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index, released on Wednesday.

The index score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between zero, which is highly corrupt, and 100, which is very clean.

(Least corrupt nations)

4. Sweden 88
5. Singapore 87
6. Switzerland 86
7. Australia 85
7. Norway 85
9. Canada 84
9. Netherlands 84
11. Iceland 82
12. Luxembourg 80
13. Germany 79
14. Hong Kong 77
15. Barbados 76

94. India 36

160. Democratic Republic of the Congo 21
160. Laos 21
160. Libya 21
163. Equatorial Guinea 20
163. Zimbabwe 20
165. Burundi 19
165. Chad 19
165. Haiti 19
165. Venezuela 19
169. Iraq 18
170. Turkmenistan 17
170. Uzbekistan 17
172. Myanmar 15
173. Sudan 13

(Most corrupt nations)
174. Afghanistan 8
174. North Korea 8
174. Somalia 8