India's rank improves among world's most corrupt nations

'No country, anywhere in the world, is corruption-free,' the report said.

India has climbed nine points to rank 76th in this year's global corruption index launched on Wednesday, with watchdog Transparency International calling graft a global "blight".

According to Transparency International's International Corruption Perceptions Index 2015, while the list is topped by Denmark, India is placed at 76th position along with Thailand, Brazil, Tunisia, Zambia and Burkina Faso out of 168 countries.

India has improved its past year's position of 85 and has a grade index score of 38 out of a possible 100 which indicates the least corrupt, said the report.

The index was prepared by using data from institutions including the World Bank, the African Development Bank.

According to Berlin-based Transparency International, 68 per cent of countries worldwide have a serious corruption problem and half of the G20 are among them.

"Not one single country, anywhere in the world, is corruption-free," the report said.

"The 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index clearly shows that corruption remains a blight around the world. But 2015 was also a year when people again took to the streets to protest corruption. People across the globe sent a strong signal to those in power: it is time to tackle grand corruption," said Jose Ugaz, Chair, Transparency International, global watchdog on graft and abuses of power.

Denmark tops of the index for the second consecutive year as the country perceived as least corrupt. It scored 91 points, while North Korea and Somalia remained at the bottom with unchanged scores of 8.

The US rose one spot this year to 16th place with a score of 76, tying with Austria. The UK rose three spots to place 10th, with a score of 81 that tied it with Germany and Luxembourg.

The other top spots, from second to ninth, were occupied by Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Singapore and Canada.

Brazil and Turkey were among nations that tumbled the most. Brazil slid to 76th place, sharing its position with India, down from 69th last year. Turkey fell two spots to 66th, continuing its descent from 53rd place in 2013.

"Dealing with many entrenched corruption issues, Brazil has been rocked by the Petrobras scandal, in which politicians are reported to have taken kickbacks in exchange for awarding public contracts," the report said.

"Corruption can be beaten if we work together. To stamp out the abuse of power, bribery and shed light on secret deals, citizens must together tell their governments they have had enough," Ugaz said.

Global corruption index, a composite index that draws from 12 surveys to rank nations around the globe, has become a benchmark gauge of perceptions of corruption and is used by analysts and investors. 

In Afghanistan and Pakistan, "a failure to tackle corruption is feeding ongoing vicious conflicts, while China's prosecutorial approach isn’t bringing sustainable remedy to the menace," the Transparency International report said.

It said 2015 showed that people working together can succeed in fighting corruption.

"Although corruption is still rife globally, more countries improved their scores in 2015 than declined. Some countries have improved in recent years," it said.

According to the Berlin-based organisation, 68 per cent of countries worldwide have a serious corruption problem and half of the G20 are among them.

"Not one single country, anywhere in the world, is corruption-free," the report said.

"The 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index clearly shows that corruption remains a blight around the world. But 2015 was also a year when people again took to the streets to protest corruption. People across the globe sent a strong signal to those in power: it is time to tackle grand corruption," said Jose Ugaz, Chair, Transparency International, global watchdog on graft and abuses of power.

Denmark tops the index for the second consecutive year as the country is perceived as least corrupt. North Korea and Somalia remained at the bottom with unchanged scores of 8.

The US rose one spot this year to 16th place with a score of 76, tying with Austria. The UK rose three spots to place 10th, with a score of 81 that tied it with Germany and Luxembourg.

The other top spots, from second to ninth, were occupied by Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Singapore and Canada.

Brazil and Turkey were among nations that tumbled the most. Brazil slid to 76th place, sharing its position with India, down from 69th last year. Turkey fell two spots to 66th, continuing its descent from 53rd place in 2013.