Gulf states saw general improvements in Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2024, with the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Oman ranking in the top 50, while worn-torn Syria, Sudan, Yemen, and Libya performed badly.
The 2024 report showed Gulf states had generally improved scores in 2024, as e-government and other anti-corruption measures show signs of greater success, yet the MENA region, as a whole, still has one of the lowest averages for any region in the world.
Based on surveys rather than actual incidents of corruption, the index still provides valuable insights into popular perceptions among business leaders and experts regarding graft in the public sector, which some believe reflects overall domestic corruption levels.
The UAE ranked highest among Arab states with a score of 68/100, putting them in 23rd place, ahead of France, Austria, and the US.Â
Qatar was up one place to 59/100, while Saudi Arabia scored a seven-point increase from its 2023 score, with both countries ranking in 38th place.
Oman was up 12 points to 55 points, its highest-ever score, while Bahrain saw a huge 11-point increase to 53/100. Kuwait stayed the same at 46/100 but Jordan saw more positive perceptions about corruption in the country, with a three-point increase on its 2023 score putting it at 49/100.
The Gulf states and Jordan made huge strides in their corruption scores due to the introduction of e-government initiatives cutting red tape and reducing citizens’ exposure to potentially corrupt officials.
“In the Gulf, we know that the trend for the past few years has been to use technology in public service as they have the economic power to invest in this area, which can and has impacted heavily on interactions with citizens and reduced some lines for petty corruption and procurement,” Kinda Hattar, regional advisor for the Middle East and North Africa at Transparency International, told The New Arab.
“While some states, including Jordan, have also introduced technology applications in the interaction between the public sector and the citizens, and has an active Anti-Corruption Agency which improved the score gradually on the CPI.”
Despite these technological improvements in reducing opportunities or exposure to corruption, MENA countries appear to have hit a plateau and no amount of e-government innovations will improve their scores unless the political and media environment is changed.
“But in order to enhance the fight against corruption, there have to be other components to push them forward in the CPI score, which means having social accountability, independent civil society, freedom of media, and a participatory approach to many processes including budgeting, vision making, and so on,” said Hattar.
“In non-stable countries, and the absence of rule of law, separation of power and independent judiciary, the tendency is stagnation or declination. Corruption will flourish as there are no mechanisms to hold the corruption to account. Therefore, activists and whistleblowers are in danger and targeted all the time.”
This includes the continued decline of Tunisia, one of the hopes of the Arab Spring but now seeing a decline in political freedoms, with its score declining from 44 in 2021 to 39 in 2024.
There are hopes that Syria, the lowest-performing Arab country with a score of just 12/100, is expected to see some improvements in corruption levels with the fall of the Assad regime.
