Global Bribery Risk Rankings

In News

• India stands at 82 in global bribery risk rankings, dips by five spots.

Major Highlights

Image: The Tribune

• Rankings: India has slipped to 82nd position in 2021, five places down from 77th rank last year, in a global list that measures business bribery risks.
• TRACE: The list by TRACE, an anti-bribery standard setting organisation, measures business bribery risk in 194 countries, territories, and autonomous and semi-autonomous regions.
  • It was originally published in 2014 to meet a need in the business community for more reliable and nuanced information about the risks of commercial bribery worldwide.
  • The TRACE Bribery Risk Matrix aggregates relevant data obtained from leading public interest and international organisations, including the United Nations, World Bank, V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg and World Economic Forum.
• Highest and lowest ranking countries: According to this year’s data, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Eritrea pose the highest commercial bribery risk, while Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and New Zealand present the lowest.
• Four factors: This score is based on four factors:
  • business interactions with the government,
  • anti-bribery deterrence and enforcement,
  • government and civil service transparency, and
  • Capacity for civil society oversight which includes the role of the media.
• Rankings of the neighbours: India fared better than its neighbours – Pakistan, China, Nepal and Bangladesh. Bhutan, meanwhile, secured 62nd rank.
• Overall analysis: Over the past five years, the business bribery risk environment in the United States worsened significantly when compared with global trends.
  • From 2020 to 2021, all of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries saw an increase in commercial bribery risk.
  • Over the past five years, the countries that have shown the greatest trend toward improvement in the factors underlying commercial bribery risk are Uzbekistan, the Gambia, Armenia, Malaysia and Angola.
• Significance of the index: This data helps companies to assess the likely risk of bribe demands in each country and to design compliance and due diligence programs tailored to that risk.

Source: IE