Malta climbed six places in the 2015 Corruption Perception Index but fewer countries were analysed when compared to last year.

Now in 37th place from 167 countries, Malta shares the position with the Czech Republic and South Korea. Denmark leads the list while Somalia came last.

Malta had ranked 43rd from 175 countries in 2014, and 45th among 177 countries in 2013.

The index is compiled by Transparency International. Countries and territories are ranked on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be.

Malta scored 56 points and is behind most EU countries except Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Latvia, Greece, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Romania. It ranked 20th among the 28 European member states.

The report contains scant details about individual countries, including Malta, with no explanations on why Malta attained those points.

Brazil suffered the sharpest deterioration in public perception of corruption. It fell to 76th place, down seven positions from 2014. Latin America’s largest economy was rocked by a massive corruption scandal at state-run companies, including oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras), which involved allegations against top government officials.

Other decliners last year included Libya, Australia, Spain and Turkey. Turkey, which saw one of the sharpest declines as a major corruption scandal buffeted the ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party, fell three points.

Two thirds of the countries assessed scored below the 50 mark where 100 stands for the cleanest and zero for the most corrupt, indicating that corruption continues to take a heavy toll on a third of the global economy.

The survey showed general perceptions of corruption around the world had declined in 2015. Among countries which saw an improved ranking were Greece, Senegal and Britain. Transparency International attributed the overall global improvement to the work of citizen activists fighting corruption in places such as Guatemala, Sri Lanka and Ghana – all countries which were able to improve their ratings in 2015.