The Relationship Between A Country's Corruption And Its GDP, Visualized

Conventional wisdom says that corruption is bad for a country's economy, because it makes everyday life more expensive and concentrates wealth in the hands of the most unscrupulous. Is that really true? 

Using GDP figures from the World Bank and corruption perceptions index scores from Transparency International, personal finance site HowMuch has put together a graph that juxtaposes the two datasets and allows us to look at them side by side:

While the countries with the most robust economies tend to have low levels of corruption, such as Germany, the UK, the US and Japan, there are exceptions to the rule. China is the most notable example —  it commands a formidable GDP of $12.24 trillion, but when it comes to corruption scores, its performance is middling at best.

Read more about the corruption perceptions index and the methodology behind the chart at HowMuch.