Malta scored the same points as last year in an international survey carried out by Transparency International, measuring perceived corruption among public service officials and politicians around the world.
Although ranked lower than last year in the global list, it was given the same Corruption Perception Index (CPI) as in 2007.
According to the 2008 Corruption Index, Malta was the 36th least corrupt country in the world out of the 180 surveyed. Last year it was in the 33rd position. However the perceived level of corruption of public service officials and politicians remained the same as last year, scoring 5.8 points out of 10.
The Transparency International CPI measures the perceived levels of public-sector corruption in a given country and is a composite index, drawing on different expert and business surveys. The 2008 CPI scores 180 countries (the same number as the 2007 CPI) on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to 10 (highly clean).
On an EU level, Malta is perceived as the 17th most corrupt country in the EU. The cleanest countries in the EU - and in the world - are perceived to be the Scandinavian member states: Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
According to Transparency International, although the EU countries rank at the top of its CPI, this year's results show that there are no corruption-free zones in and around the EU.
"The overarching critical perception displayed in the broad decline of CPI scores among EU countries can be seen as a sign that anti-corruption reforms should not stop with EU membership and that there is a heightened awareness about corruption throughout the region," Transparency International noted.
Recent high-profile scandals in the public and private sectors have also put a spotlight on the supply-side of corruption and contributed to a better understanding of how governments tolerate or react to such activity, the international organisation said.
Among incidents that contributed to more perceived corruption in the EU, Transparency International highlighted a decision by the British government to discontinue a criminal investigation of British Aerospace Systems in relation to the Al Yamamah contract in Saudi Arabia, the arrest of politicians in Italy relating to abuses and corruption in the public health system in the Abruzzo region and public procurement corruption in Bulgaria.
According to this year's Index, Somalia, Iraq and Myanmar are the most corrupt countries in the world.
Huguette Labelle, chairman of Transparency International, said that this year's index shows the fatal link between poverty, failed institutions and graft. "In the poorest countries, corruption levels can mean the difference between life and death, when money for hospitals or clean water is in play," he said.
"The continuing high levels of corruption and poverty plaguing many of the world's societies amount to an ongoing humanitarian disaster and cannot be tolerated. But even in more privileged countries, with enforcement disturbingly uneven, a tougher approach to tackling corruption is needed."