Transparency International (TI) released the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2021 on 25 January 2022. The CPI ranked 180 countries and territories by the perceived levels of public sector corruption.
In the 2021 CPI, Bhutan is ranked 25th least corrupt country with a score of 68. While the rank dropped from last year’s 24th, the score of 68 remains the same.
For the last nine years, Bhutan has been consecutively placed at the sixth position in the Asia and Pacific Region. The five top countries/territories are New Zealand (1st), Singapore (4th), Hong Kong (12th) Australia (18th) and Japan (18th).
Table 1: Bhutan’s Global and Regional CPI Rank and Score from 2012 to 2021
| Year | Global Ranking | No. of participating countries | Score (0-100) | Asia Pacific Ranking | No. of Surveys Used | Confidence Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | 180 | 68 | 6 | 4 | 64.32-71.68 |
| 2020 | 24 | 180 | 68 | 6 | 4 | 64.08-71.92 |
| 2019 | 25 | 180 | 68 | 6 | 4 | 63.48-72.52 |
| 2018 | 25 | 180 | 68 | 6 | 4 | 63-73 |
| 2017 | 26 | 180 | 67 | 6 | 5 | 64-70 |
| 2016 | 27 | 176 | 65 | 6 | 5 | 62-69 |
| 2015 | 27 | 168 | 65 | 6 | 4 | 61-69 |
| 2014 | 30 | 175 | 65 | 6 | 4 | 62-68 |
| 2013 | 31 | 177 | 63 | 6 | 4 | 59-67 |
| 2012 | 33 | 176 | 63 | 6 | 3 | 57- 69 |
Source: https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2021
The data sources used for the aggregated CPI score for Bhutan are as in Table 2.
Table 2: Data Sources for Bhutan’s CPI Score
| Year | World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Framework Assessment (CPIA) | Global Insight Country Risk Ratings | Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index | Varieties of Democracy Project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60 | 71 | 69 | 71 |
| 2020 | 60 | 71 | 69 | 72 |
Source: https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2021
To construct Bhutan’s score and rank for 2021, four data sources namely, World Bank’s Country Policy & Institutional Assessment; Global Insight Country Risk Ratings; Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index; and Varieties of Democracy Project were used. The overall score in the data sources have remained the same as in the previous year except for Varieties of Democracy Project. Further analysis into each data source show that good governance effort in the country has mostly remained status quo with meager changes in a few indicators.
Specifically, the ratings for most of the indicators in the World Bank’s CPIA are at average or just above average with some indicators, namely business regulatory environment, revenue mobilization, financial sector, social protection, trade and resource allocation requiring enhanced efforts to improve the ratings.
The Global Insight Country Risk Ratings 2020 show that dimensions related to Government Effectiveness and Regulatory Quality are substantially below Political Stability, Rule of Law and Control of Corruption (Table 3) indicating the need to enhance performance, accountability and enforcement. Some of the risks under Government Effectiveness and Regulatory Quality includes government’s broad policy framework shifts that may make the business environment more challenging; regulatory compliance and bureaucratic inefficiency and/or opacity; and tax inconsistency, among others.
Table 3: Global Insight Country Risk Ratings 2020 – Bhutan
| Dimension | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political Stability and Absence of Violence | 0.92 | 0.92 | 0.92 | 0.92 | 0.92 | 0.92 | 0.92 |
| Government Effectiveness | 0.61 | 0.61 | 0.61 | 0.67 | 0.67 | 0.67 | 0.67 |
| Regulatory Quality | 0.58 | 0.58 | 0.58 | 0.58 | 0.42 | 0.42 | 0.42 |
| Rule of Law | 0.83 | 0.83 | 0.83 | 0.83 | 0.78 | 0.78 | 0.78 |
| Control of Corruption | 0.83 | 0.83 | 0.83 | 0.83 | 0.83 | 0.83 | 0.83 |
Source: https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2021
As per the Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index, the rating for Democratic Quality in line with the principles of rule of law and separation of powers with checks and balances and Market Economy anchored in the principles of social justice are lower as compared to Good Governance. Moreover, Good Governance in the country is only at ‘Good’ or ‘Sound’.
Regarding the assessment by the Varieties of Democracy Project, some of the indicators that have declined in the last year of assessment are the accountability indexes, clean election index, media corrupt, political and public sector corruption and rule of law index as presented in Table 4.
Table 4: Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem v. 11) 2021
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access to justice | 0.86 | 0.86 | 0.87 | 0.86 | 0.86 | 0.85 | 0.85 |
| Access to public services distributed by gender | 3.63 | 3.36 | 3.36 | 3.36 | 3.36 | 3.36 | 3.36 |
| Accountability index | 0.81 | 0.82 | 0.80 | 0.79 | 0.78 | 0.79 | 0.79 |
| Clean elections index | 0.80 | 0.81 | 0.78 | 0.76 | 0.76 | 0.76 | 0.76 |
| Clientelism Index | 0.34 | 0.33 | 0.36 | 0.37 | 0.39 | 0.39 | 0.39 |
| Control of corruption --- estimate | null | 1.62 | 1.65 | 1.57 | 1.13 | 1.02 | 1.28 |
| Diagonal accountability index | 0.66 | 0.67 | 0.66 | 0.66 | 0.63 | 0.65 | 0.65 |
| Disclosure of campaign donations | 3.46 | 3.41 | 3.41 | 3.41 | 3.48 | 3.12 | 3.12 |
| Judicial accountability | 2.88 | 2.88 | 2.88 | 2.88 | 2.88 | 2.88 | 2.88 |
| Media corrupt | 3.36 | 3.49 | 3.49 | 3.49 | 3.49 | 3.49 | 3.49 |
In general, the above ratings and the dimensions being assessed indicate the imperative for a whole of-government approach to bring substantial improvement in terms of governance, accountability and performance. This is nothing new for Bhutan and the Bhutanese having been consistently guided and reminded in every Royal Address with the most recent during the 114th National Day, wherein it has been categorically Commanded to enhance accountability:
“As underpinned in our age-old saying, “the golden yoke of secular laws,” accountability must henceforth become the cornerstone of governance. We must correct those who deviate, be firm with those who do not deliver, replace those who are incompetent, and terminate those who underperform and have therefore become a liability to our system and nation. We must not hesitate to expose those who engage in corrupt practices, so that we send a strong signal to deter others from doing so.”
Thanks to the resolute leadership of His Majesty The King, Bhutan has continued to maintain its place amongst the top 25 cleanest countries. While it is of concern that we have slipped one place in the ranking, from 24th last year to 25th this year, it is of even greater concern that Bhutan’s score has stagnated at 68 since 2018. While the ranking is a relative placement that is not entirely within the control of individual countries, the score is definitely within our purview. The score of 68 means that we are short of almost a third off our full potential, indicating significant loss to the Nation and the opportunities missed in the past, present and the future.
Going forward, the incisive, striking and deeply moving Royal Commands of the 114th National Day Royal irrefutably calls for accountability and integrity, resolve and determination in the fight against corruption in the best interest of our Nation and People. A war to be waged and won collectively by the government, citizens and agencies with courage, grit, and fortitude [that] must define every aspect of our national endeavour.
This is the 16th consecutive year that Bhutan has been ranked and scored by the index.
For more details, please visit the link https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2021/index/btn
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