Haiti ranked 163rd out of 177 studied countries in the corruption perception index for 2013 by Transparency International. However, it improved by two positions comparing to last year when it occupied 165th place.

Dominican Republic ranked 123rd this year. The countries that ranked best in the region were Bahamas and St. Lucia. They shared the 22nd position with France, Austria and Chile.

In the Corruption Perceptions Index 2013, Denmark and New Zealand tie for first place. Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia were the worst performers this year.

“The top performers clearly reveal how transparency supports accountability and can stop corruption,” said Labelle. “Still, the better performers face issues like state capture, campaign finance and the oversight of big public contracts, which remain major corruption risks.”

The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt a country’s public sector is perceived to be. It is a composite index, drawing on corruption-related data from expert and business surveys carried out by a variety of independent and reputable institutions. Scores range from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Countries’ scores can be helped by strong access to information systems and rules governing the behavior of those in public positions, while a lack of accountability across the public sector coupled with ineffective public institutions hurts these perceptions.