Greece scored 40 out of 100 points on the perception of corruption scale published by Berlin-based NGO Transparency International on Tuesday, putting the crisis-hit nation on a par with China, but showing that it has made some progress from last year when it scored 36 points.

The score of 40 also shows that Greece is seen as the most corrupt nation in the European Union, far below the best-performing Denmark, which scored 91.

The ranking, which covers 177 countries, is based on expert opinions of public sector corruption on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Greece ranks in the 80th spot among the 177 countries, below Bulgaria, Senegal and Tunisia. It is on a par with China and just one spot up from Swaziland.

Seven of the 28 EU member states scored below 50. Spain dropped to 59, compared to 65 in 2012. Slovenia slipped by four points to 57. Germany also slipped one point from last year to a score of 78, though it still ranks in the top 12.