KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's ranking dropped four places in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) last year.
The index, released by Transparency International, showed that Malaysia was ranked 54th out of 168 countries this year compared to 50th out of 175 countries last year.
Malaysia ranked 52 the previous year.
The CPI scores and ranks are determined by the perceived level of corruption in the country's public sector.
Transparency International-Malaysia president Datuk Akhbar Satar said Malaysia's position would be even worse if seven other countries were included in last year's evaluation as their scores were above Malaysia in 2014.
"Despite many steps implemented, the level of corruption experienced in Malaysia does not seem to be decreasing," he said.
Globally, Denmark received the highest rank with a score of 91 followed by Finland (90) and Sweden (89).