Jakarta – Indonesia has reduced corruption over the last decade, thanks in part to a reform push by its leaders, a World Bank report says.

In its report, Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI), the World Bank found that governance in Indonesia had substantially improved following the end of the New Order era in 1998.

"The progress is a reflection of a country whose political leaders, policy-makers, civil society and private sector view good governance and corruption control as crucial for a sustained and shared growth," Daniel Kaufmann, the director of governance at the World Bank Institute, said in a statement summarizing the report.

"A decade into the reform era, Indonesia bears all the hallmarks of a thriving democracy – freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of the press and now freedom of public information," he said.

The report, titled Governance Matters VII, covered indicators on governance and corruption in 212 countries drawing on data from survey institutes, think tanks and NGOs.

The WGI measures six categories of governance; voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and control of corruption.

The report, the seventh installment in a 10-year study by World Bank researchers, found Indonesia had moved up in all six indicators, and outperformed other countries in the region on voice and accountability.

Indonesia, in many surveys, has been consistently ranked one of the most corrupt countries in the world in almost all its state institutions, including law enforcers. The latest Transparency International report ranked the country 143rd in its global corruption perceptions index.

The latest prominent example of corruption in the country is the implication of several top prosecutors at the Attorney General's Office in a high-profile bribery scandal.

A watchdog, the Indonesia Corruption Watch, has urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to set up a special team to reform the AGO and rid it of corruption.

Despite this latest scandal, however, Joachim von Amsberg, the World Bank's country director here, praised Indonesia for its efforts to combat corruption, saying it has come a long way in 10 years.

"Indonesia's steady improvement in the rating on control of corruption, year after year, is most encouraging," Von Amsberg said.

"However, Indonesia's ranking shows that the fight against corruption is a long-term effort and that there is still a long way to go. Further actions to fight corruption can contribute a lot to social and economic progress," he said.

The full Governance Matters VII report, the synthesis of the main findings and new WGI data updates can be accessed at http://www.govindicators.org.