Tunis/Tunisia — With a Corruption Perceptions Index score of 40/100, down four points, Tunisia ranked 85th globally in the Transparency International's 2022 annual report released Tuesday.

The organisation I Watch explained this decline by several factors, including "the closure of the premises of the National Authority to Combat Corruption (INLUCC) for over a year and a half on a decision of President Kaïs Saïed.

Based on this report, Tunisia ranked 8th in the MENA region. It is preceded by the United Arab Emirates (27th), Qatar (40th), Saudi Arabia (54th), Jordan (61st), Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman (69th) and Kuwait (77th).

Tunisia is ahead of Morocco (94th), Turkey (101st), Egypt (130th) and Libya (171st).

In the top of the ranking are Denmark (90th), followed closely by Finland and New Zealand with a score of 87 out of 100. These countries are considered by the NGO to be "strong democratic institutions committed to the respect of human rights."

Somalia, last (180th) with 12/100, Syria and South Sudan (178th) with 13/100, 3 countries involved in long-standing conflicts, remained at the bottom of the CPI ranking, according to Transparency International.

The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories on a scale ranging from zero (0?=?high corruption) to 100 (100 =?no corruption), based on the degree of perceived corruption in the public sector.

Since its inception in 1995, the Corruption Perceptions Index has become the leading global indicator of public sector corruption.

It ranks 180 countries and territories on this criterion, using data from 13 external sources, including the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, private consulting and risk management firms, think tanks and others.