Bhutan is ranked the 25th cleanest county out of 180 countries/territories with the score of 68 as per the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which was released on 29th January 2019 by the Transparency International (TI). In comparison to the CPI 2017, Bhutan has stepped up by a rank and a score.
Bhutanโs score of 68, on a scale of 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean/least corrupt), is significantly higher than the global average score of 43 and the average score of 44 of the Asia Pacific region.
In the Asia Pacific Region, Bhutanโs position has remained the same (6th) and this has been the trend since 2012. The region has countries, which are in the top twenties of the CPI like New Zealand (2nd), Singapore (3rd), and Japan (18th). However Bhutan is the cleanest country in the SAARC region.
While Bhutan has been making steady progress, with Bhutanโs graduation from LDC to Lower Middle-Income Country status by 2023, Bhutan will become more vulnerable to more complex forms of corruption. Therefore, it is critical for governmentand stakeholders to enhance and sustain the effort in promoting systems of integrity and strengthening governance machinery. Under the aegis of the 12th FYP, Corruption Reduced being maintained as a National Key Result Area, anti-corruption and integrity measures will be intensified with enhanced level of integration into the sectoral plans/programs and collaboration between the agencies.
TI-CPI release this year marks it the 24th edition since it was first launched in 1995. TI analysis of public sector corruption is a leading international indicator as it annually provides an overview of the relative degree of corruption in the countries/territories worldwide.