The BPI is a ranking of 22 influential countries according to the likelihood of their firms to bribe abroad. These countries were selected on the basis of their trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows, using data from United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The 22 countries ranked are the following: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, India, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom and United States.

It is based on two questions asked of 2,742 senior business executives who were asked about the likelihood of foreign firms, from countries they have business dealings with, to engage in bribery when doing business in their country. Based on the answers the 22 countries were ranked on a scale from 0 to 10.

High scores indicate a low inclination to corruption. Besides the ranking of countries, the survey also examines how often bribes are used in certain sectors.