Transparency International UK’s Defence and Security Programme will release its new Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index online at www.defenceindex.org on 29 January at 2:01 London time.

22 January 2013 - The first of its kind this index measures how governments around the world prevent and counter corruption in the defence sector. This in-depth analysis of defence corruption risks covers 82 countries around the world (listed at the bottom of this email). Together, these countries account for 94 per cent (USD 1.6 trillion) of the global military expenditure in 2011.

Transparency International calculates the global cost of corruption in the sector to be over USD 20 billion every year. This is equivalent to the total sum pledged by the G8 in L’Aquila in 2009 to fight world hunger – and makes tools to address the problem vital.

The index sheds light on a huge and secretive sector often tarnished by corruption scandals, and provides Ministries of Defence and Armed Forces with a tool to guide reform.

Independent country assessors filled in our 77-question assessment which covers defence corruption risks in 5 areas: political, finance, personnel, operations and procurement. The assessments were then reviewed by independent peer reviewers, and TI national chapters and country governments were invited to comment.

A report and the website http://www.defenceindex.org with thorough analysis of the results will be made available on 29 January.

Interviews in various languages may be arranged with our experts on that day.

AMERICAS: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, United States, Venezuela

ASIA PACIFIC: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA: Austria, Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan

MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA (MENA): Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: Angola, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe