Occupying the top ten slots of the Corruption Perceptions Index, and therefore perceived as the least corrupt countries by those polled were: Finland (1), New Zealand (2) Denmark and Iceland (joint 3rd), Singapore (5), Sweden (6), Switzerland (7), Norway (8), Australia (9) and the Netherlands (10). The United Kingdom narrowly missed inclusion in the top ten, coming in at number 11 in the Index.

Meanwhile, the bottom positions in the Index were occupied by: Azerbaijan and Paraguay (joint 140th), Chad and Myanmar (joint 142nd), Nigeria (144), and Bangladesh and Haiti (joint 145th).

In an interview with the Swissinfo news service following publication of the report, M. Lévy welcomed the relative lack of perceived corruption in Switzerland, observing that:

"If you look at the figures, you’ll see that there is a slight improvement. But what is more important is not the comparison with other countries but the score we get – and this has also improved slightly. There is definitely an improvement, although it’s not going as far as we would like."

M. Lévy cited the changing structure of the Swiss export economy, coupled with legislative developments and the development of new anti-corruption instruments for businesses and the public sector as possible factors behind the country's improved position in the CPI.

With regard to money laundering, he suggested that both the situation and the international perception of it have improved significantly in recent years, but he went on to add that:

"In other fields – corruption among private people, whistle blowing and the protection of whistle blowers – much more needs to be done. We want to protect whistle blowers from being the victims of their courageous actions, as they often are. We hope that this will be done in the context of the ratification of a Council of Europe convention."

When questioned by the national news service as to the impact of the anti-corruption legislation introduced by the Swiss government in October 2003, however, the Transparency Switzerland president suggested that it is too early to tell.

"In Switzerland and in most other OECD countries, these comparatively new laws have not been applied and there have been very few prosecutions. In this area we still have to improve our performance," he observed.