Above: Bridgetown (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Barbados has the lowest perceived level of corruption in the Caribbean, while Haiti has the region’s highest, according to a report released Wednesday by Transparency International.

The report, which gives countries higher scores for lower levels of perceived public sector corruption, ranked Barbados at 15th in the world. It improved from 16th in last year’s list.

The index goes from 0, meaning a country is perceived as highly corrupt, to 100, meaning it is perceived as very clean.

“Looking at the Corruption Perceptions Index 2012, it’s clear that corruption is a major threat facing humanity,” Transparency International wrote in a release. “Corruption destroys lives and communities, and undermines countries and institutions. It generates popular anger that threatens to further destabilize societies and exacerbate violent conflicts.”

Barbados’ ranking put the country just ahead of Belgium, and just behind Hong Kong. The Bahamas was the next-highest-rated CARICOM country at 22nd, tied with St Lucia and France.

Haiti had the highest level of perceived corruption in the public sector, ranking 165th in the world.

A total of 176 countries and territories were ranked. See below for the full Caribbean rankings. (Note: TI did not rank every Caribbean country in the report.)

Source: Transparency International