When it comes to the least corrupt country in the Caribbean, Barbados takes the title hands down.

Thats according to Transparency Internationals latest 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index, released Tuesday. The new report puts Barbados ranking 17th on the least corrupt scale and scoring 7.8 overall. The CPI is measured on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (perceived to have low levels of corruption), indicating a serious corruption problem.

The only other Caribbean nation to come close was Puerto Rico, at number 33 with an index of 5.8. and Dominica at 44 with a score of 5.2. No other Caribbean nation made the top 50 list. Cuba came in a 69th with 3.7; Trinidad and Tobago at 79 with a score of 3.6 and Jamaica at 87 with 3.3.

The Dominican Republic, Guyana and Haiti brought up the rear for the Caribbean with scores of 3, 2.7 and 2.2, respectively and ranks of 101, 116 and 146. The 2010 CPI shows that nearly three quarters of the 178 countries in the index score below five.

`These results signal that significantly greater efforts must go into strengthening governance across the globe. With the livelihoods of so many at stake, governments commitments to anti-corruption, transparency and accountability must speak through their actions. Good governance is an essential part of the solution to the global policy challenges governments face today,` said Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International (TI).

`Allowing corruption to continue is unacceptable; too many poor and vulnerable people continue to suffer its consequences around the world. We need to see more enforcement of existing rules and laws. There should be nowhere to hide for the corrupt or their money,` added Labelle.

Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore tied for first place with scores of 9.3. Unstable governments, often with a legacy of conflict, continue to dominate the bottom rungs of the CPI. Afghanistan and Myanmar share second to last place with a score of 1.4, with Somalia coming in last with a score of 1.1.