The 2015 corruption perceptions index by Transparency International showed that more countries had better scores, compared to those who ranked lower. However, out of the 168 countries included in the list, two-thirds scored below 50, on a scale where 100 is deemed free of corruption, and zero represents very corrupt.

Brazil recorded the biggest drop in the index, by falling five points and going down seven positions to rank No. 76. The drop was attributed to the country’s government and top businesses being involved in the massive scandal surrounding state-owned oil firm Petrobras. The plunge cautioned that new economies are struggling through graft. Other countries that suffered big declines in the index include Australia, Spain, Brazil, Libya and Turkey. The worst nations in the list are Somalia and North Korea, with eight points each.

FastFT reported that Transparency International rates countries high where press freedom is observed, there are independent judiciaries, the public can access information regarding the government budget, and other transparent operations. Countries that garner low scores usually have weak public agencies and institutions, no independent media, internal conflict and war. Countries that did not score well usually indicates high prevalence of bribery and lack of penalties among corrupt officials.

“Corruption remains a blight around the world. But 2015 was also a year when people again took to the streets to protest against it,” said Jose Ugaz, chair of Transparency International.

Ugaz continued that more than 6 billion people reside in countries that have serious corruption issues. Citizens have to unite to let their governments know that they no longer wish for the corruption, bribery, secret deals and corruption to continue.

Yahoo revealed that the index should cause emerging giants to be concerned. Robin Hodess, TI group director for research, said that all the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are challenged, since they are expected to be the next biggest economies in the world, but had scores under 50 in the index. South Africa was No. 61 with 44 points, India and Brazil were tied at No. 76 with 38 points. China was at No. 83 with 37 points, while Russia was at No. 119 with 29 points.

Hodess also cited that the Petrobras scandal had a massive impact in proving how political networks and businesses have been hiding corruption in Brazil for decades.

Denmark was at the top of the list for the second consecutive year. Other countries that improved significantly include the United Kingdom, Greece and Senegal.