Hungary Continues to Be Seen Corrupt
Hungary’s Ranking Did Not Improve according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index
1 December 2011, Budapest
Today Transparency International published its 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index where Hungary ranked 54. out of 183 countries. This year first ranking countries are New Zealand, Finland and Denmark, while Somalia and North Korea ranked last.
The index scores a country’s level of corruption from 0 to 10 using 17 independent surveys. In 2011, Hungary scores 4.6, while two thirds of ranked countries score less than 5. Low–scoring countries are mostly characterized by weak public institutions and internal political conflicts. Changes over past years indicate that countries of higher level of corruption are hit more severely by economic crisis due to their public indebtedness. It is seen that good governance, transparent and efficient use of public funds are key factors to fight corruption and improve the competitiveness of a country.
„Last year, independent institutions playing a key role in fighting corruption have been jeopardized in Hungary which further deteriorated the country’s perception.” said Ádám Földes, head of the Hungarian chapter of the international organization.
Transparency International Hungary has been operating as an independent civil society organization since 2006 and calls legislators’ attention to corruption risks through research, development of proposals and issue of position papers. Besides sharing international best practices, TI Hungary launches education programs and runs an advocacy and legal aid centre. In autumn we launched an international social campaign called Time to wake up!, in which we would like to call the attention on the responsibility of every member of society.
For further information on the Corruption Perceptions Index please click here.
If you need more information please contact Ádám Földes at adam.foldes@transparency.hu e-mail address or call +36 70 421 5191.