SINGAPORE - Singapore has slipped two places in a ranking of countries seen as being the least corrupt in the world.

It came in seventh in this year's Corruption Perceptions Index, which is compiled by graft watchdog Transparency International (TI), after three years of taking the No. 5 spot.

The Republic's score fell two points to 84 this year from 86 last year, according to data released by TI on Wednesday. A score of 100 means a country is perceived as being very clean while a score of zero means a country is viewed as highly corrupt.

The top five countries in this year's index - Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden and Norway - held on to the same positions as last year. Top scorer Denmark came in with 92 points, up from 91 last year.

But Switzerland, which ranked seventh last year, overtook Singapore to be joint fifth with Norway - the position Singapore held last year.

China, Turkey and Angola were among the countries whose reputations for corruption worsened the most over the last year, TI said.

North Korea and Somalia shared last place in the index with a score of just eight.

TOP TEN:

1. Denmark 92

2. New Zealand 91

3. Finland 89

4. Sweden 87

5. Norway 86

5. Switzerland 86

7. Singapore 84

8. Netherlands 83

9. Luxembourg 82

10. Canada 81

TEN IN MID-RANGE:

12. Germany 79

14. Britain 78

15. Japan 76

17. United States 74

26. France 69

64. Turkey 45

69. Brazil 43

85. India 38

100. China 36

136. Russia 27

BOTTOM TEN:

166. Eritrea 18

166. Libya 18

166. Uzbekistan 18

169. Turkmenistan 17

170. Iraq 16

171. South Sudan 15

172. Afghanistan 12

173. Sudan 11

174. North Korea 8

174. Somalia 8

The full list will be published on www.transparency.org