[News Terms] South Korea Ranks 31st in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] The 'Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)' is an index measuring the perceived level of corruption in the public and government sectors, published by Transparency International (TI), a non-governmental international organization (INGO) based in Germany. Also known as the 'corruption index,' it is scored out of 100 points, with higher scores indicating lower levels of corruption.

The CPI quantifies the degree of corruption in each country based on the perceived presence of corruption among public officials and politicians. The survey began in 1994 and was first published in 1995, drawing significant attention from the international community. The index is calculated by synthesizing Gallup survey data on 17 items, including bribery and embezzlement by public officials and politicians, based on research from 13 organizations such as the World Bank (WB), World Economic Forum (WEF, Davos Forum), Asian Development Bank (ADB), and International Institute for Management Development (IMD).

Transparency International, which measures the CPI, defines corruption as "the abuse of power for private gain." This is why the corruption levels of public officials and politicians are used to evaluate the overall corruption level of a country.

Jeon Hyun-hee, Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, is announcing the results of the 'Anti-Corruption Policy Evaluation' in January 2021.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The CPI is also used alongside the 'Democracy Index' published by the UK Economist and the 'Press Freedom Index' published by France's Reporters Sans Fronti?res (RSF) as one of the three major indicators to assess a country's corruption, democracy, and press freedom.

According to the Seoul City University Anti-Corruption Administration System Research Institute, a 1-point increase in the CPI corresponds to a 25% rise in Gross National Product (GNP) per capita, and the Korean Association for Public Administration expects a $4,713 increase in per capita national income, highlighting the index's importance domestically.

According to the '2022 Country CPI' released by Transparency International the day before, South Korea scored 63 points (31st place), up 1 point from 62 points (32nd place) in 2021. South Korea has shown a gradual upward trend with scores of 54 points (51st place) in 2017, 57 points (45th place) in 2018, 59 points (39th place) in 2019, and 61 points (33rd place) in 2020.