Aarti Tikoo Singh

New Delhi, Jan 23 (IANS): India's level of corruption remained the same in 2019 against the previous year, as per the latest survey conducted by Transparency International, an independent organization that determines corruption perception index globally.

India scored 41, the same as in 2018, on the corruption perception index where 100 is considered very clean and 0 is highly corrupt.

Interestingly, China, Ghana, Benin and Morocco shared the same score on the index. India's hostile neighbour, Pakistan, ranked 120 out of 180, indicating very high levels of corruption.

The survey studied 180 countries in the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, drawing on 13 expert assessments and surveys of business executives.

Globally, Denmark stood at number one, with a score of 87, followed by New Zealand (87), Finland (86), Singapore (85), Sweden (85), Switzerland (85), Norway (84), Netherlands (82), Germany (80), Luxembourg (80).

Many developed countries including Canada, France, the United Kingdom and Denmark have scored less in 2019 compared to the previous year. Many countries also dropped in ranks even as their score remained the same. India's rank dropped by two places in 2019.