Ireland is ranked number 21 out of 177 countries named on the annual 'corruption' index published by Transparency International, up from a ranking of 25 last year.

The organisation’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 scores countries and territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

More than two thirds of the 177 countries in the 2013 index score below 50. Ireland had a rating this year of 72, slightly better than last year’s rating of 69. The country’s position at 21 on the index places it just below Uruguay and above the Bahamas and Chile.

Denmark and New Zealand are in joint first place with scores of 91.

The worst countries, at the bottom of the index, were Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia, which scored just 8 points each.

Transparency International said the index was a warning "that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world".

Chair of the organisation Huguette Labelle said the index demonstrated taht all countries still faced the threat of corruption at “all levels of government, from the issuing of local permits to the enforcement of laws and regulations”.

“The top performers clearly reveal how transparency supports accountability and can stop corruption,” said Ms Labelle.

“Still, the better performers face issues like state capture, campaign finance and the oversight of big public contracts which remain major corruption risks.”

The index is based on experts’ opinions of public sector corruption.

Transparency International said countries’ scores could be helped by “strong access to information systems and rules governing the behaviour of those in public positions, while a lack of accountability across the public sector coupled with ineffective public institutions hurts these perceptions”.

The organisation said corruption within the public sector remained “one of the world’s biggest challenges”.

Transparency International says it receives funding from a range of donors, including government agencies, multilateral institutions, foundations, the private sector and individuals.

It said its policy was to accept funding – whether monetary or in kind – from any donor, “provided that acceptance does not impair our independence to pursue our mission or endanger our integrity and reputation”.

10 most corrupt nations

Somalia (8 )

North Korea (8)

Afghanistan (8 )

Sudan (11)

South Sudan (14)

Libya (15)

Iraq (16)

Uzbekistan (17 )

Turkmenistan (17)

Syria (17)

10 least corrupt nations

Denmark (91)

New Zealand (91)

Finland (89)

Sweden (89)

Norway (86)

Singapore (86)

Switzerland (85)

Netherlands (83)

Australia (81)

Canada (81)

Source: Transparency International