Poland is seen as less corrupt now than it was last year, according to Transparency International. The NGO's annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranked the country 49th out of 180 nations, up from 58th in 2008.

"Key developments that have contributed to an improvement in perceptions are: the establishment of a ministerial office for anti-corruption, an increase in the number of investigations by the [Central Anticorruption Bureau] and the plan to adopt a national anti-corruption strategy, referred to as the ‘anti-corruption shield.' These efforts must be sustained and strengthened," TI said in its report.

The CPI ranks nations on a scale of zero to 10, with zero indicating endemic corruption and 10 indicating low levels. The ranking is based on the results of a number of independent "expert and business" surveys.

Poland's scored five on the scale this year, compared to 4.6 in 2008. Huguette Labelle, chairwoman of TI, warned that the "vast majority of the 180 countries" in the index had scored below five.

"This is very troublesome, particularly in times of a tentative economic recovery, with massive stimulus packages and fast-tracked dispersements of public funds. We must commit ourselves to tackling corruption or all efforts at long-term economic stability will fail," she said in a statement. Ms Labelle also emphasized that the bribery which takes place in more corrupt countries is often funded by businesses based in the world's richest nations.

The top of the CPI was occupied by New Zealand (9.4), Denmark at (9.3), Singapore and Sweden (9.2) and Switzerland (9.0). Meanwhile, Iraq and Sudan (1.5), Myanmar (1.4), Afghanistan (1.3) and Somalia (1.1) had the misfortune of being perceived as the world's most corrupt nations.

E Blake Berry