IRELAND has been ranked as the 19th least corrupt country in the world according to analysis from Transparency International.
The organisation, which aims to eradicate corruption around the world, ranks countries based on perceived levels of public sector corruption.
Ireland remained in 19th spot in the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2017, albeit with a slightly improved score on last year.
That’s an improvement on its all-time low position of joint 25th in 2012 with a score of 69, but still some way off its best ranking of 11th in 1995 – the first year of the index.
Ireland did however score above the Western European average of 66, a score which made Western Europe the best performing region.
Britain ranked joint eighth in the latest table, with the United States joint 16th.
According to the findings, the least corrupt country in the world was New Zealand, followed by Denmark and Finland.
Somalia ranked bottom in the table of 180 countries.
'Protect those who speak up'
Analysis of the index results by Transparency International examined the relationship between corruption levels, the protection of journalistic freedoms and engagement of civil society.
It found that almost all journalists killed since 2012 were killed in corrupt countries.
On average, every week at least one journalist is killed in a country that is highly corrupt.
In addition, one in five journalists that died were covering a story about corruption.
“No activist or reporter should have to fear for their lives when speaking out against corruption,” said Patricia Moreira, managing director of Transparency International.
“Given current crackdowns on both civil society and the media worldwide, we need to do more to protect those who speak up.”
See More: Corruption Index
