It is that time of year again; the global anti-corruption watchdog has released its 'corruption perceptions index.' Denmark remains the least corrupt. Greece, Senegal and the UK have improved significantly since 2012; Australia, Brazil and Turkey have deteriorated.

The index, first released in 1995, is the best known of Transparency International's publications. The least corrupt countries are at the top and the most corrupt are at the bottom. The emphasis of the annual survey is on perceptions - it is based on interviews with businessmen and others who are able to gauge corruption levels in almost all the world's countries. It draws on different assessments and business opinion surveys carried out by independent and reputable institutions. The 12 different main sources include the Political Risk Services group in New York and a survey of business executives conducted by the non-profit World Economic Forum in Geneva. The survey has come to be respected throughout the world and a staple reference-point for compliance officers and money-laundering reporting officers. The full table is to be found at http://www.transparency.org/cpi2015

The Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon countries generally sweep the board in these surveys and the table that TI has released today is no exception. At the top are three Norse countries - Denmark (1), Finland (2) and Sweden (3), followed by New Zealand (4), Canada (9), the United Kingdom (10) and Australia (11), with the United States coming joint 16th with Austria. Iceland is 13th. Other Teutonic countries include Holland in 5th and Germany and Luxembourg joint 10th. Singapore always does well and is in 8th place.

New Zealand has declined since last year - from 2nd to 4th. Finland and Sweden have each rise one point. Holland has risen from 8th last year. Australia has dropped from 11th to 13th; Brazil from 69th to 76th; Turkey from 64th to 66th.

Libya, strangely for a failed state, has risen from 166th to 161st. Spain has risen from 37th to 36th although, confusingly, the TI website claims that it is deteriorating, quoting Anne Koch, TI's director for Europe and Central Asia, as saying: “While a handful of countries in Europe and Central Asia have improved, the general picture across this vast region is one of stagnation. Also very worrying is the marked deterioration in countries like Hungary, FYR of Macedonia, Spain and Turkey where we’re seeing corruption grow, while civil society space and democracy shrink. Corruption won’t be tackled until laws and regulations are put into action and civil society and the media are genuinely free.”

At the bottom are Sudan (165), Afghanistan (166), North Korea (167) and finally Somalia (168). These were the bottom four last year, although they occupied slightly different places except for Somalia, which was at the very bottom then as now. This is what it means to be the subject of American sanctions, invasions and/or bombing campaigns on civilian targets.

Transparency International’s other global research products include:

• Global Corruption Barometer. Measuring people’s perceptions and experiences of corruption, this is a representative survey of more than 114,000 households in 107 countries. The most recent results are from 2013.
• Bribe Payers Index. Measuring the 'supply side' of corruption in international business transactions, this is a ranking of leading exporting countries according to the perceived likelihood of their firms to bribe abroad. It is based on a survey of business executives and their perceptions of the business practices of foreign firms in their country.
• Global Corruption Report. This looks at specific issue or sectors and draws on a variety of expert research and analysis as well as case studies.
• National Integrity System assessments. These are in-country studies providing an extensive qualitative assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the main institutions that are trusted with the prevention of corruption there.
• Transparency In Corporate Reporting. This gauges how 'transparent' the reporting on a series of anti-corruption measures by the world’s largest companies is.