Sri Lanka has been ranked 83rd among 168 countries in the 2015 annual Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index.
The index ranks countries according to the perceived level of public sector corruption.
Transparency International in a statement said this is a marginal improvement on its 85th placed ranking in 2014.
The ranks are based on a scoring system that ranges between 0, public sector perceived as highly corrupt, to 100, public sector perceived as very clean.
Two-thirds of the 168 countries assessed scored below 50.
In 2015 Sri Lanka has scored 37 points, which marks a slight decline to the 2014 score of 38 points.
This indicates that from the perspective of business people and country experts, based on data sources from independent institutions specialising in governance and business climate analysis, the perception of the extent of corruption in the Sri Lankan public sector has slightly worsened.
Sri Lanka is clubbed together with four other countries – Benin, China, Colombia and Liberia – all with a score of 37. Among the South Asian countries Sri Lanka ranks third below Bhutan and India. Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan ranked below Sri Lanka.
Denmark took the top spot for the 2nd year running, with Finland, Sweden and New Zealand making up the top four.
North Korea and Somalia were ranked at the bottom. The overall CPI index has shown that people working together can succeed in the battle against corruption.
