Lithuania improved its score by one point and moved up one notch on Transparency International's latest global Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).
In the 2021 index, Lithuania scored 61 on a 100-point scale, ranking 34th among 180 countries worldwide, and 13th among the EU 27, in terms of corruption perception, Transparency International Lithuania said in a statement on Tuesday.
“CPI results show that we are slowly moving in the positive direction. With the new Law on Prevention of Corruption coming into force this year, we have an exceptional opportunity to speed up our progress towards the most transparent countries in the world,” said TI Lithuania CEO Sergejus Muravjovas.
“The main challenge for this decade is curbing big corruption. However, it will only be possible with more transparency in politics and public sector, open data and citizen involvement into decision-making,” he said.
“I would like for public and private sector executives to take on even more initiative setting good examples in their institutions.”
Globally, Denmark, New Zealand and Finland share the first spot with 88 points each.
Estonia rose to number 13 in the latest index with 74 points (17th place and 75 points last year), and Latvia moved up to number 36 with 59 points (42nd place and 57 points).
Poland received a score of 56 and is 42th (56 points and 45th place last year). Belarus is placed 82nd with 41 points (47 points and 63rd place last year), and Russia is at number 136 with 29 points (30 points and 129th place last year).
The EU's average score is 64 points out of 100.
TI Lithuania notes that Lithuania's government has decided to use the index to measure its success in fighting corruption. The current government's programme seeks to achieve a score of 70 points in 2024.
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