In the latest corruption index by Transparency International, Sierra Leone has been ranked 119 out of 175 countries scoring 31. Sierra Leone is tied with Mauritania and Mozambique.

In 2012, Sierra Leone was ranked 123 scoring the same 31 points along with Mozambique again. They have now moved five places in 2013.

The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 – 100, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 100 means it is perceived as very clean.

A country’s rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories included in the index. This year’s index includes 177 countries and territories.

The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 serves as a reminder that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world.

The Index scores 177 countries and territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). No country has a perfect score, and two-thirds of countries scored below 50. This indicates a serious, worldwide corruption problem.

The world urgently needs a renewed effort to crack down on money laundering, clean up political finance, pursue the return of stolen assets and build more transparent public institutions.

It is time to stop those who get away with acts of corruption. The legal loopholes and lack of political will in government facilitate both domestic and cross-border corruption, and call for our intensified efforts to combat the impunity of the corrupt,” says Huguette Labelle, Chair, Transparency International

Denmark and New Zealand are the best countries on top scoring 91, whilst Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia ranked at the bottom scoring 8.