Travel Tips

Travel Tip: Which Countries are the Most Corrupt?

mogadishu-somaliaBefore you take your next trip, you might want to check with the non-profit organization Transparency International.

Each year it surveys more than 145 countries and publishes a Corruption Perception Index. That list always has some surprises as to which countries are considered the most corrupt.

The countries are rated on a scale from 1 (least corrupt) to 167 (most corrupt).

There are some instances where multiple countries tied with the same score.

Some countries are not a surprise: Topping the list are places like North Korea and Somalia, but other destinations may pose direct threats to travelers.

Morocco, for example—which welcomed more than 10 million visitors last year—ranked 88 on the corruption list.

So how did the U.S. and Canada fare? The U.S. ranked at 16 while Canada came in at 9.

Here are the top ten most corrupt countries, including those that tied:

1. Somalia
1. North Korea
2. Afghanistan
3. Sudan
5. South Sudan
5. Angola
7. Libya
7. Iraq
10. Venezuela
10. Guinea-Bissau
10. Haiti

Here are the top ten least corrupt countries, including those that tied:

1. Denmark
2. Finland
3. Sweden
4. New Zealand
5. Netherlands
5. Norway
7. Switzerland
8. Singapore
9. Canada
10. Germany
10. Luxembourg
10. United Kingdom

The corruption list is not meant to discourage travel to these countries, but to educate us about the inherent risks each country might pose to visitors.

Now, we are not talking about snatching and pickpocketing here, but more complex and financial threats as well as the potential for physical crime.

For more information about destinations around the world, check out:

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