Berlin, 29 January 2016 – Transparency International released its 21st annual Corruption Perceptions Index on 27 January. The index ranks 168 countries/territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The Corruption Perceptions Index is the leading global indicator of public sector corruption, offering a yearly snapshot of the relative degree of corruption by ranking countries from all over the globe. Albania ranks 88th with a score of 36.

Following reports in Albania that have painted a wrong picture of the Corruption Perceptions Index’ methodology, Transparency International would like to clarify how individual country scores are constructed.

The Corruption Perceptions Index is a composite index, a combination of different international surveys and assessments of corruption, collected by a variety of reputable institutions. The index draws on 12 surveys from independent institutions specialising in governance and business climate analysis covering expert assessments and views of businesspeople. None of these surveys were commissioned by Transparency International.

In the case of Albania, the following data sources were used to compile the Corruption Perceptions Index 2015:

· World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey 2015

· Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index 2016

· World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2015

· Political Risk Services International Country Risk Guide 2015

· Economist Intelligence Unit Country Risk Ratings 2015

· Global Insight Country Risk Ratings 2014

· Freedom House Nations in Transit 2015