According to the TI report, Croatia's index remains at 3.4. Last year, Croatia finished as 70th with the CPI of 3.4. Obviously, nothing has changed for better since last year regarding the perception of corruption in the public sector in Croatia.
"The 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index is a composite index that draws on multiple expert opinion surveys that poll perceptions of public sector corruption in 163 countries around the world, the greatest scope of any CPI to date. It scores countries on a scale from zero to ten, with zero indicating high levels of perceived corruption and ten indicating low levels of perceived corruption," the international organisation said on its website.
The 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) reflects a strong correlation between corruption and poverty, with a concentration of impoverished states at the bottom of the ranking.
"A strong correlation between corruption and poverty is evident in the results of the CPI 2006. Almost three-quarters of the countries in the CPI score below five (including all low-income countries and all but two African states) indicating that most countries in the world face serious perceived levels of domestic corruption. Seventy-one countries - nearly half - score below three, indicating that corruption is perceived as rampant. Haiti has the lowest score at 1.8; Guinea, Iraq and Myanmar share the penultimate slot, each with a score of 1.9. Finland, Iceland and New Zealand share the top score of 9.6," reads the TI press release.
"Countries with a significant worsening in perceived levels of corruption include: Brazil, Cuba, Israel, Jordan, Laos, Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and the United States. Countries with a significant improvement in perceived levels of corruption include: Algeria, Czech Republic, India, Japan, Latvia, Lebanon, Mauritius, Paraguay, Slovenia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uruguay," it is added.
When it comes to countries in the area of the former Yugoslavia, Slovenia is the best-ranked finishing at the 28th slot with a score of 6.4. After Croatia, Serbia is 90th, Bosnia is 93rd, and Macedonia is 105th.
"While the industrialised countries score relatively high on the CPI 2006, we continue to see major corruption scandals in many of these countries. Although corruption in this context may have less of an impact on poverty and development than in developing countries, these scandals demonstrate that there is no room for complacency," TI said.