CPI 2016 Results for Armenia and Other Countries of the Region

Armenia’s 2016 CPI score is 33 and it shares with Bolivia and Vietnam 113th to 115th places among 176 in the CPI 2016 ranking table. In 2015 Armenia’s CPI score was 35 and with this score it was sharing 95th to 98th places among 168 countries. Taking into account that the calculated statistical error for Armenia’s 2016 CPI score is equal to 4.01. It could be argued that compared to 2015, the perception of the corruption in the Armenian public sector remained approximately the same. At the same time, Armenia’s rank in the ranking table of 2016 CPI went down by about 18 points compared to 2015 CPI ranking table. If we’ll take out from the 2015 and 2016 ranking tables all those countries (10 countries), which were included either in the 2015 (1 country) or in the 2016 (9 countries) ranking tables, then Armenia’s rank would go down by about 10 points. However, the most disturbing is the trend observed in Armenia’s CPI score in the last three years (2014-2016), which could be seen from the below infographics. This trend needs more detailed discussion.

According to the Transparency International’s regional distribution of the countries, Armenia is included in the Eastern Europe – Central Asia region (see the handout on the 2016 CPI corresponding regional table). This region includes non-EU member Balkan countries (Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo), former Soviet republics, except EU member Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia), and Turkey. Among 19 countries of the region Armenia is on the 10th place (in 2015 it was on the 8th place). In 2016 two countries of the region, namely Kosovo and Belarus, bypassed Armenia. As a result, compared to 2015 Armenia now is not only behind Baltic countries and Georgia, whose CPI score in 2016 is equal to 57 (instead of 52 in 2015 or an increase in 5 points) – the highest among the countries of the region, but also to Belarus, whose CPI score had an impressive improvement in 2016 (from 32 in 2015 to 40 in 2016, or plus 8 points) – the second best mover in the world after Surinam, whose CPI score increased by 9 points.

Among its neighbors Armenia continues to lag behind also from Turkey (2016 CPI score is 41 compared to 42 in 2015), which continues its downslide since 2012, when its score was equal to 49. Two other neighbors of Armenia, namely Azerbaijan and Iran, improved their scores by 1 and 2 points, respectively, though still staying behind Armenia. With its CPI score equal to 30, Azerbaijan now shares 123rd to 130th places and Iran with its CPI score equal to 29 shares 131st to 135th places. The CPI scores of all other member states of the Eurasian Economic Union, except Belarus, are still lower, than that of Armenia. In particular, Russia’s CPI score remained equal to 29 (131rd to 135th places). Kyrgyzstan’s score also remained the same, as in 2015, and is equal to 28 (136th to 141st places), and Kazakhstan’s score improved by 1 point, reaching 29 (131st to 135th places).