Construction, real estate, oil and gas sectors most prone to corruption

London / Berlin, 9 December 2008 --- Companies based in emerging economic giants, such as China, India and Russia, are perceived to routinely engage in bribery when doing business abroad, according to Transparency International's 2008 Bribe Payers Index (BPI), released today.
Belgium and Canada shared first place in the 2008 BPI with a score of 8.8 out of a very clean 10, indicating that Belgian and Canadian firms are seen as least likely to bribe abroad. The Netherlands and Switzerland shared third place on the index, each with a score of 8.7. At the other end of the spectrum, Russia ranked last with a score of 5.9, just below China (6.5), Mexico (6.6) and India (6.8).

The BPI also shows public works and construction companies to be the most corruption-prone when dealing with the public sector, and most likely to exert undue influence on the policies, decisions and practices of governments.

For full information on 2008 Bribe Payers Index please visit Transparency International website at http://www.transparency.org/news_room/in_focus/2008/bpi_2008