Happiness Index: Albania among the 10 most corrupt countries in the world

Albania is ranked among the 10 most corrupt countries in the world, according to the perception of its citizens.

One of the six variables of the Happiness Index 2022, published a few days ago by the UN, is the perception of corruption, which is measured by polls with citizens for two questions: "Is corruption widespread in government or not?" and "Is Corruption Pervasive in Businesses?"

For the period 2019-2021, Albania has a score for this indicator of 0.03, ranking 9th in the world.

The citizens of the Balkans generally think that corruption is widespread. Bosnia and Herzegovina is second in the world, after Afghanistan. Other countries in the region whose citizens think corruption is high are Romania and Bulgaria.

In the list behind us is northern Macedonia and then Kosovo. The last two countries in the previous ranking were positioned worse than Albania.

The country, which is perceived by its citizens as the least corrupt in the world continues to be, is Singapore.

The list of the least corrupt includes the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway. Sweden and New Zealand are also rated by their citizens as the least corrupt.

The high perception that Albanian citizens and businesses have about corruption is one of the indicators that penalizes us in the happiness index. This index ranks Albania penultimate in Europe.

Albania was ranked 90th out of 146 countries in total, while among European countries it leaves behind Turkey, which is in 112th place.

The Happiness report is based on an annual survey, which asks about 1000 individuals in about 150 countries of the world, who are asked to rank, from 1 to 10, to see if they are living well or not. (Albania has received 5,199 points this year).

Indicators on which the index is based take into account per capita income, expectations for a healthy life, support from friends and relatives, data on charity, freedom to make choices in life and perceived levels of corruption.

Researchers have used six indicators to understand the results: Gross Domestic Product per capita, expectation for a healthy life at birth, support from friends and relatives, charity, freedom to make choices in life, and perceived levels of corruption.

In contrast to the Albanians of Albania, the Albanians of Kosovo are ranked the happiest people in the region and among the happiest in the world, ranking 32nd, almost the same as the Italians and Spaniards./Monitor