Somalia and North Korea are the 'most corrupt' nations on Earth… while India fell from 87th in 2010 to 95th, ranking behind China

New Zealand is ranked least corrupt in survey

• Chile and Uruguay take the 22nd and 25th place
• Large proportion of European nations in the top 20

The United States is ranked behind 23 countries in its scale of corruption, according to an international report released this week.

New Zealand comes in at number one as the least corrupt country, just before Denmark and Finland sharing the number two spot. 

The report released by German watchdog organization Transparency International, ranked the 182 countries and territories according to their levels of perceived public sector corruption. 

Ranked: The United States is ranked behind 23 countries with New Zealand ranked as the least corrupt, according to the 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index

Surrounding the United States' place at 24, Chile placed 22 and Uruguay at 25, being its only two closely competing South American countries.

The bottom ranked nations, ahead of Somalia and North Korea who tied at number 182, were Myanmar, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Sudan, Iraq, Haiti and Venezuela.

Among the top ten nations In terms of lowest surveyed corruption, the majority are European nations with the three exceptions of Singapore at number five, Australia at number eight, and Canada at number 10. 

Australia tied its ranking with Switzerland.

Worst: Somalia and North Korea were tied as the 'most corrupt' nations on Earth

Over all, the top 20 countries were European though Bulgaria was the lowest-performing European Union country, ranking at number 86.

The top performers of the Americas include Canada which ranked 10th, Barbados 16th, Bahamas 21st and then Chile at 22nd.

To compile the index, Transparency International used reports based 'on different assessments and business opinion surveys carried out by independent and reputable institutions.'

Tied: A woman stands with her child at the world's largest refugee camp in Somali which tied at 182nd as the world's most corrupt country

The organization said perceptions alone are important to measure because corruption is so hidden, making its measurement difficult.

'Over time perceptions have proved to be a reliable estimate of corruption,' Transparency International said in it's report.

The report asked questions relating to: 

• the bribery of public officials, 
• kickbacks in public procurement, 
• embezzlement of public funds,
• the strength and effectiveness of public-sector and anti-corruption efforts

Regionally, in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Turkey is ranked highest at 61 while Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are lowest at 177.

In the Middle East and North Africa, Qatar ranks best at number 22 while Iraq is the lowest at number 175.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Botswana ranked highest at number 32.

India fell from 87th in 2010 to 95th, ranking behind China (75th) but in front of Pakistan (134th) in South-Asian nations.