India ranks 94 in list of corrupt nations

India was ranked 94 out of 176 countries surveyed in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2012, with a score of 36 on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean), the Transparency International India (TII) said Wednesday.

Last year India ranked 95 out of 183 countries. However, due to an update in the methodology, CPI scores of 2011 cannot be compared with this years' score, S.K. Agarwal, vice-chairman of TII told agency. He added that India had the same score of 36 in 2011 as well.

"The 2012 index ranks countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption and assigns scores of between one (highly corrupt) and 100 (clean). Ten independent data sources specialising in governance and business climate analysis have been used," Agarwal added.

While Somalia, North Korea and Afghanistan were the most corrupt countries with a score of eight, Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tied for the first place of the least corrupt with a score of 90.

China had a CPI score of 39, which is better than India, while Pakistan's was 27.

CPI scores and ranks countries based on how corrupt a country's public sector is perceived to be. It is a combination of surveys and assessments of corruption collected by a variety of reputable institutions.