Egypt rises 12 places in Corruption Perceptions Index

CAIRO - 30 January 2019: Egypt's ranking rose from 117 in 2017 to 105 out of 180 countries surveyed in 2018 on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) issued annually by the Berlin-based Transparency International.

The country also recorded its third best corruption perception score since 2011.

Egypt scored 35 out of 100, where 0 is highly corrupt, and 100 is perfectly clean. While Denmark topped the 2018 list scoring 88, followed by New Zealand then Finland, Singapore, Sweden, and Switzerland at the same place. Transparency International said that over two-thirds of the countries surveyed scored below 50.

The US has dropped four places since 2017, which marks the first time for the US since 2011 not to be ranked as one of the top 20 countries on the CPI.

Somalia still ranks last on the CPI, marking the highest level of corruption, followed by Syria and South Sudan, then Yemen and North Korea.


Over 2018, Egypt's Administrative Control Authority (ACA) – the regulatory body responsible for enforcing laws and regulations within state bodies –ordered the arrest of numerous officials, within the framework of the leadership’s fight against corruption.

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has always stressed on applying strict measures within the government institutions to crack down any violation. He hailed the role played by the ACA in different occasions.

In December, Sisi launched the second phase of the national strategy for fighting corruption 2019-2022 at Africa 2018 forum in Sharm El Sheikh. The first phase was launched in 2014.

The strategy's goals focus on developing anti-graft bodies and activating mechanisms of transparency and integrity at government offices along with modernizing judicial procedures to accelerate verdicts' issuance and increasing public awareness about the need to combat corruption.