NZ public sector tops world integrity list

State Services Minister Tony Ryall says New Zealanders will be proud their public sector continues to lead the world in integrity.

Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index for 2011 was released today and New Zealand is again ranked in first place.

“New Zealand’s consistent reputation for integrity in the public sector has been reinforced by this ranking. The lack of corruption makes us a desirable place to do business internationally and meets New Zealander’s expectations of fairness.

“It’s very encouraging that this year New Zealand alone achieved the top position, having moved ahead of the countries that we shared first equal place with last year, and I would like to congratulate New Zealand's public sector.” Tony Ryall said.

New Zealand has either been ranked first, or equal first for the last six years of the survey.

The index ranks 183 countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, with results drawn from 17 different expert and business surveys.

The full Transparency International findings are available at http://www.transparency.org/