Published every year by Transparency International, the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) measures the corruption levels perceived within the public sector on a global scale. Analysing 175 countries and territories, the 2014 CPI showed a critical situation where the phenomenon still appears to be the world's endemic evil. Indeed, on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) no country gained a full score and more than two-thirds reported a score below 50.

Compared to the past, Denmark confirms its record (92 points out of 100), followed by New Zealand, Finland and Sweden, Norway and Switzerland share the fifth position while, on a global scale, France (69), Turkey (45) and China (36) differ in a negative sense losing a few positions. At the bottom of the chart remain North Corea and Somalia. In particular, the overall European picture is positive with an average of 64 points out of 100, driven especially by the Scandinavian group on top of the chart, followed by Switzerland (86), Netherlands (83), Luxembourg (82), Germany (79), Iceland (79), United Kingdom (78), Belgium (76) and Ireland (74), occupying the first twenty positions of the Index.

What's most worrying about this framework is that corruption strongly impairs the economic system of the countries affected, worsening the quality of services and generating citizens who become poorer and, above all, who don't trust governments and their leaders anymore. The last position among the European Union member states goes to Italy with 43 points, overtaken by South Africa and on the same level as Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. It is precisely to help an important nation such as Italy improve its situation that the Italian chapter of Transparency International launched the portal Alac - Allerta Anticorruzione, an inovative service where citizens can report, in complete anonymity, corruption cases they experienced or witnessed.