Scandinavia least corrupt says survey

Anti-corruption organisation Transparency International (TI) has again hailed northern Europe as the region freest from graft, bribes and kickbacks. Such financial crime is rarest in Iceland, says the 2005 corruption rankings from the German group, with Finland and New Zealand tying at second place, Denmark fourth, Sweden sixth, and Norway eighth. TI said the rankings reflect the region’s “professional and transparent public administration combined with strong civil society and civic culture”. Britain, as in recent years, also scored well, coming joint eleventh cleanest. Most corrupt were Chad and Bangladesh, followed by Turkmenistan, Myanmar and Haiti.

( www.transparency.org/cpi/2005/cpi2005.sources.en.html)