Original article (in Slovenian) was published on 15/5/2024; Author: Tina Geč
Slovenia scored the same on the Corruption Perceptions Index as last year; however, improvements in the Czech Republic caused Slovenia to rank lower.
Democratic Party MP Jožef Lenart discussed the perception of corruption in Slovenia at an emergency session of the National Assembly on 6 May. He argued that the perception of corruption had worsened last year compared to 2022.
He was referring to the Corruption Perceptions Index, which is measured by Transparency International, a non-governmental organisation that rates countries on corruption in the public sector.
They assess the level of bribery, nepotism, abuse of office, rule of law violations and misuse of public funds in a country based on data from 13 institutions such as the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. Countries are scored on a scale of zero to one hundred, with a lower score indicating a higher level of corruption.
Transparency International points out on its website that a country’s ranking relative to others is less important than its corruption perception score, as the ranking depends on the position of the other countries in the ranking.
Slovenia scored 56 out of a possible 100 points in both 2022 and 2023. Last year, it was ranked 42nd, and the year before 41st, which was due to an improvement by the Czech Republic, with which it had previously shared 41st spot.
Slovenia is thus below the EU average of 65 points, while the global average remains at 43 points.
In January, the Slovenian Commission for the Prevention of Corruption warned that the country’s poor performance demanded measures such as an update of the 2010 Integrity and Prevention of Corruption Act and consistent compliance with the obligations of all relevant institutions to reverse the trend.
We have informed MP Lenart of our findings and will publish his response upon receipt.
The claim that Slovenia has lost ground on the Corruption Perceptions Index from 2022 to 2023 is misleading.
