Pakistan failed to make any improvement on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) in 2022 as the country ranked 140 out of 180 countries — a position unchanged from the last year, Transparency International said in a report on Tuesday.

The CPI, which measures how corrupt a country’s public sector is perceived to be by its experts and businesspeople, uses a scale of zero to 100 where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

While Pakistan’s rank was unchanged, its score dropped to 27 from 28 last year. There was no change in India’s score, while Bangladesh’s dropped to 25 from 26 last year.

In 2021, Pakistan dropped 16 places in the CPI compared to 2020, ranking 140 out of 180 countries.

Under the PTI government, the ranking of Pakistan gradually slid. In 2019, it was 120 out of 180 countries, in 2020, it was 124, in 2021 it worsened further to 140. However, the PTI government lost power through a parliament vote in April 2021, paving the way for a new coalition government with representation from major political parties — the PML-N and the PPP.

In 2018, during the PML-N government, Pakistan’s ranking was 117 out of 180 countries.

The 2022 edition of the CPI ranked 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, drawing on 13 expert assessments and surveys of business executives.

The scores reflect the views of experts and business people.

Denmark topped the index this year, with 90 points, followed by Finland and New Zealand with 87 points each. Somalia, Syria, and South Sudan are at the bottom of the chart with 12, 13, and 13 points, respectively.

In his message, Chief Executive Officer of TI Daniel Eriksson said leaders could fight corruption and promote peace all at once.

“Governments must open up space to include the public in decision-making — from activists and business owners to marginalised communities and young people.”

He opined that in democratic societies, people canould raise their voices to help root out corruption and demand a safer world for us all,“ he wrote in the report.