Myanmar and Somalia have been ranked as the most corrupt countries in the world in the 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released Wednesday by Transparency International.

The Berlin-based organization said the countries with the lowest rate of corruption are Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, all with a score of 9.4, where 10 represents a corruption-free nation.

The three are closely followed by Singapore, Sweden, Iceland, the Netherlands and Switzerland in this year’s report.

At the opposite pole stand Myanmar and Somalia with just 1.4, while Iraq occupies an unwanted place two in this top of most corrupt countries with a 1.5 score. Haiti, which had the highest level of corruption in the world last year, gained several points and received a score of 1.6.

“Despite some gains, corruption remains an enormous drain on resources sorely needed for education, health and infrastructure,” Transparency International chairwoman Huguette Labelle said.

“Low scoring countries need to take these results seriously and act now to strengthen accountability in public institutions.”

This evaluation outlines a strong bond between corruption and poverty. Almost 40 per cent of the countries where corruption is perceived as rampant have been classified by the World Bank as low income countries.

Nations ravaged by internal conflicts like Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar, Somalia, and Sudan continue to remain at the bottom of the index, a fact outlined by Labelle.

“Countries torn apart by conflict pay a huge toll in their capacity to govern. With public institutions crippled or non-existent, mercenary individuals help themselves to public resources and corruption thrives,” she said.

The situation has improved in several African nations including Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa and Swaziland , where the fight against corruption provided significant results compare to last year.

The index shows Botswana has the lowest level of corruption from all African states, while Uganda is the worst-ranked on the 111th place.

Notable improvements have been observed in Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominica, Italy, Macedonia, Romania and Suriname.

This year’s assessment reveals that corruption soared in Austria, Bahrain, Belize, Jordan, Laos, Macao, Malta, Mauritius, Oman, Papua New Guinea and Thailand.

The respected organization urged governments to introduce tougher laws in order to properly combat money laundering and eradicate safe havens for stolen assets.