Corruption occurs because it is human nature to take the easy way out and to gain personal benefit from whatever means possible. It is clear that corrupt activities by individuals and governments, to the tune of trillions per year, have a huge impact on the world economy.
List containing top 10 Most Corrupt Countries in the world.
1. Haiti
Haiti was struck by a massive earthquake in 2010, but the 2 billion dollars that came into Haiti as funds for the people inflicted by the earthquake was consumed by the rampant corruption practiced by the bureaucracy. “In this country everything is money,” Chairman of the Port-au-Prince Bar Association Stanley Gaston said. “There isn’t value in any other thing”.
2. Iraq
During the Saddam regime, the corruption was so rampant that anyone that so much as lifted a finger against the government was immediately captured and brutally murdered. “Millions of dollars are being stolen, and some of this money is going to terrorist groups,” a former political exile told the BBC in 2009. “The government cannot win the war against the insurgency if it does not fight corruption first. And the war against corruption is much harder to win.”
3. Venezuela
The discovery of mass amounts of oil in Venezuela hastened its slide into corruption and by the 1970s the petroleum sucked from the ground was called “the Devil’s excrement” by Venezuelans. In Venezuela, even the police, the department appointed to protect the law, are notorious for their corruption and bribery.
4. Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan spent 69 years under the Soviet Union and their time with the Soviets has left its effects on the government. The people suffer intense human rights violations and face severe restrictions whenever they try leaving the country. It has the world’s third worst freedom of the press, and is the tenth most censored country in the world.
5. Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan is a country rich in resources, but the government does not allow for growth in the independent private sector as they keep control over all the resources. The government, infamous for its authoritarianism, is often called the root of all the corruption and the problems that arise as a result.
6. Sudan
South Sudan produces half a million barrels per day, and the $10 billion in oil revenues collected since 2005 has funded nearly 98 percent of the government’s budget. But it has lost more than $4 billion due to public sector corruption since gaining self-rule in ’05.
7. Afghanistan
Afghanistan is a country riddled with the corruption of bribery. Bribery and the menace of kickbacks are so common place in Afghanistan that 38 percent of the people consider it to be normal.
8. Myanmar
Myanmar is rich in natural resources such as oil, timber and gems, a blessing that is more of a curse in this country riddled with drug rings and widespread corruption. After emerging from five decades of military rule in March 2011, Burma (Myanmar) drafted an anti-corruption law, state officials were told to repay embezzled funds and citizens were told to report bribery and corruption.
9. North Korea
There is little foreign investment in North Korea, and the country is plagued by structural corruption in its political and bureaucratic system. There is little that is known about North Korea, as once you’re in, you either get captured or find worse fates, or you pay huge bribes to escape.
10. Somalia
Somalia is the world’s most corrupt country, highlighting the convergence of conflict and corruption. The corruption and violence was sparked when the US and the USSR used Somalia as a battleground for the political ideologies and backed clans and militias into fighting for their respective sides. Funding from the US really kicked off the particular Siad Barre regime which took corruption to a whole new level.
