KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has gone up 10 places to 51 out of 180 countries in Transparency International's (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2019 compared with 2018.

Malaysia also improved in terms of score, going up six points to 53 in the corruption index.

In 2018, Malaysia ranked 61 out of 180 countries, scoring 47 out of 100.

The Malaysian score was based on nine survey sources.

TI-Malaysia president Dr Muhammad Mohan (pic) congratulated the entire nation, adding that all have done their part, not just the government and civil servants, to help improve the country's ranking.

He said Malaysia's CPI rankings had improved from 2012 to 2014, but the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) issue had caused a downward trend.

“But in 2018, the new government took over and you see a rise in our score. The new government has committed to make Malaysia free of corruption, ” he told a press conference on Thursday (Jan 23).

He also urged civil servants, NGOs, enforcement officers and all Malaysians to help the country achieve a higher score next year.