Corruption Affects Billions of People Worldwide: Transparency Index

Corruption Affects Billions of People Worldwide: Transparency Index

The 2024 CPI reveals that corruption remains a significant global challenge, obstructing efforts to address pressing issues like climate change. 

Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2024 offers a comprehensive analysis of global public sector corruption, emphasizing its detrimental impact on climate action. 

The CPI evaluates 180 countries and territories, assigning scores from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). The 2024 report released in February 2025 underscores the pervasive nature of corruption and its role in hindering effective responses to the climate crisis.

The 2024 CPI reveals that corruption remains a significant global challenge, obstructing efforts to address pressing issues like climate change. The report highlights that while some nations have made strides in combating corruption, many others continue to struggle, leading to adverse effects on environmental policies and initiatives.

The index highlights the stark contrast between nations with strong, independent institutions and free, fair elections, and those with repressive authoritarian regimes. Full democracies have a CPI average of 73, while flawed democracies average 47 and non-democratic regimes just 33. 

This highlights that although some non-democratic countries might be perceived as managing certain forms of corruption, the broader picture shows that democracy and strong institutions are crucial for combating corruption fully and effectively.

For the seventh year in a row, Denmark heads the ranking, with a score of 90. Finland and Singapore take the second and third spots, with scores of 88 and 84, respectively. Scoring 83, New Zealand is outside the top three positions for the first time since 2012, but remains in the top 10, together with Luxembourg (CPI score: 81), Norway (81), Switzerland (81), Sweden (80), the Netherlands (78), Australia (77), Iceland (77) and Ireland (77).

Meanwhile, countries experiencing conflict or with highly restricted freedoms and weak democratic institutions occupy the bottom of the index. South Sudan (8), Somalia (9) and Venezuela (10) take the last three spots. Syria (12), Equatorial Guinea (13), Eritrea (13), Libya (13), Yemen (13), Nicaragua (14), Sudan (15) and North Korea (15) complete the list of lowest scorers.

Since 2012, according to CPI, 32 countries have significantly improved their scores on the index and are now seen as having less corruption. Over the same period, 47 countries made significant losses. These decliners include some high-scoring democracies, like the United States (65) and New Zealand (83), as well as autocratic states like Russia (22) and Eswatini (27). The countries that saw improvements include Moldova (43), Kuwait (46) and Uruguay (76).

As corruption grows in scale and complexity, the Transparency analysis shows that over two thirds of countries now score below the mid-point on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). 

It says corruption affects billions of people worldwide, destroying lives, undermining human rights and exacerbating global crises. It blocks real action where it’s needed most – and with autocrats on the rise and democracy weakening, the fight against it has never been more urgent.