The CPI scale indicates that zero indicates highly corrupt while 100 is perceived to be very clean. The country’s ranking also improved by one place, as it is now ranked 130 out of 180 countries. This year, New Zealand and Denmark ranked highest with scores of 89 and 88 respectively. Syria, South Sudan and Somalia ranked lowest with scores of 14, 12 and 9 respectively. The best performing region was Western Europe with an average score of 66. The worst performing regions were Sub-Saharan Africa (average score 32) and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (average score 34), according to Financial Tribune. Transparency International has published the Corruption Perceptions Index since 1996, annually ranking countries “by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys”. The CPI generally defines corruption as “the misuse of public power for private benefit”.