No, Pakistan has not risen from 175 to 116 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index

This article is more than one year old.
Published on October 18, 2018 at 16:00
2 min read
By AFP Pakistan

A Facebook post quoting Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency claims that the country’s ranking on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index has improved from 175 to 116. The global corruption watchdog’s data showed neither of these figures were correct. Pakistan is currently ranked 117 out of 180 countries on the list and has not improved its ranking significantly in recent years.

The widely-shared Facebook post says: "Remember that (Pakistani Prime Minister Imran) Khan had said that high levels of corruption will be eliminated in 90 days. Now 60 days remain and the results are in front of you."

The post contains a photo of Prime Minister Imran Khan and a clipping from the Urdu language daily Jang from September 26, 2018.

The newspaper story is headlined: “Continuous decline in corruption, Pakistan at 116 ranking from 175.”

The Facebook post has been shared nearly 4,000 times.

Screenshot of misleading Facebook post

Khan -- who became Prime Minister in August -- has long promised to eradicate corruption in Pakistan.

The Jang report says: “Chairman of Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Javed Iqbal has said that because of the spectacular performance of NAB, Pakistan has risen to 116 from the 175th position on the Corruption Perception Index.”

The NAB website has also published a press release dated September 25, 2018 in which Iqbal makes similar claims.

“NAB is a role model not only for the country but also for entire SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries. Owing to outstanding performance of NAB, Pakistan’s corruption perception Index (CPI) has been decreased from 175 position to 116,” the press release says.

The statement does not specify when Pakistan’s ranking on the corruption index allegedly improved.

According to data shared by Transparency International’s Pakistan office, Pakistan has never been ranked 175 on the index since the list’s inception in 1995.

Pakistan’s current ranking is 117. The previous year Pakistan was ranked 116.

The lowest Pakistan has ever been on the list was 144 in 2005, according to Transparency International data.

Chart provided by Transparency International Pakistan

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