Over 80% of markets have registered improvement since 2012. The top improvers in each survey generally correlate with a surge in foreign direct investment and corporate occupier activity, as investors help to accelerate transparency reforms and governments realise that poor transparency will affect continued inward investment, long-term growth prospects and the quality of life of citizens.

JLL's Global Real Estate Transparency Index is a unique survey that quantifies real estate market transparency across 102 markets worldwide. The Index is updated every two years and has been charting the steady progress in real estate transparency across the globe for 15 years. The 2014 Index is our eighth edition.

The Index aims to help real estate investors, corporate occupiers, retailers and hotel operators understand important differences when transacting, owning and operating in foreign markets. It is also a helpful gauge for governments and industry organisations who are seeking to improve transparency in their home markets.

In the 2014 Index, we have introduced much greater granularity as transparency levels come under greater scrutiny and the real estate industry seeks more detailed information to inform decisions.

While the survey covers the same topics as the 2012 edition, it now breaks these down into 115 factors, representing nearly a 40% increase on the 83 covered in 2012. Although the consistency of the survey is not compromised, the explicit inclusion of many more factors does underpin some of the changes in score between 2012 and 2014.

Coverage has been extended further into Sub-Saharan Africa to include Ethiopia, Mozambique, Senegal and Uganda; Myanmar is a new addition in Asia, while Libya has rejoined the Index.