Corruption Concerns Grow in Albania

Government's offices  in Tirana | Source : Flickr

The index puts Albania in 95th place with a score of 3.1 out of 183 countries in the report.

This year's ranking is eight places behind its position in the index in 2010, when Albania ranked 87 with a score of 3.3.

The index gives to scores 183 countries and territories from 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean) based on perceived levels of public sector corruption. It uses data from 17 surveys that look at factors such as enforcement of anti-corruption laws, access to information and conflicts of interest.

The index showed that Croatia and Montenegro are considered as the least corrupt countries in the region, both ranked in 66th place, followed by Macedonia in 69th position, Romania in 75th, Bulgaria in 86th, Serbia also at 86th, while Bosnia and Herzegovina is ranked in 89th position.

The most corrupt country in the region in the index is Kosovo, ranked in 112th place.

“2011 saw the movement for greater transparency take on irresistible momentum as citizens around the world demand accountability from their governments," Transparency International's Managing Director, Cobus de Swardt, said.  

“High-scoring countries show that over time efforts to improve transparency can, if sustained, be successful and benefit their people,” he added.

Two-thirds of ranked countries scored less than 5.

New Zealand ranks first, followed by Finland and Denmark. Somalia and North Korea, which was included in the index for the first time, come last.