DHAKA: Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia are perceived by their populations as so corrupt that they occupy the last three places in the 2013 index of global corruption published by Transparency International on Tuesday.

Danes and New Zealanders have the most faith in their officials and those nations topped the annual list.

The United Sates was 19th and France 22nd.

The list measures corruption within political parties, the police, the judiciary and public services. It is based on public perception, Transparency International argues, because ‘corruption generally comprises illegal activities, which are deliberately hidden’.

The Berlin-based non-governmental organisation collates expert views on the problem from bodies such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, Economist Intelligence Unit, Bertelsmann Foundation, Freedom House among others.

It then ranks countries on a scale of 0-100. The bottom three all score just 8. Denmark and New Zealand both receive 91.

The latest survey ‘paints a worrying picture’, said Transparency, reports france24.com.

It said that nearly 70 percent of the 177 nations have a ‘serious problem’ with venality among officials.

‘While a handful perform well, not one single country gets a perfect score. More than two-thirds score less than 50.’

BDST: 1654 HRS, DEC 03, 2013