Corruption Perceptions Index

Map showing countries/territories by Corruption Perceptions Index, 2019

>80   70–79   60–69   50–59

40–49   30–39   20–29   10–19

<10   Data unavailable

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is an index published annually by Transparency International since 1995 which ranks countries "by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys." The CPI generally defines corruption as "the misuse of public power for private benefit".

The 2019 CPI, published in January of 2020, currently ranks 180 countries "on a scale from 100 (very clean) to 0 (highly corrupt)." Denmark, New Zealand and Finland are perceived as the least corrupt nations in the world, ranking consistently high among international financial transparency, while the most perceived corrupt country in the world is Somalia, scoring 8–10 out of 100 since 2012. South Sudan is also perceived as one of the most corrupted countries in the world due to constant social and economic crises, ranking an average score of 13 out of 100 in 2018.

Methods

Transparency International commissioned the University of Passau's Johann Graf Lambsdorff to produce the CPI. The 2012 CPI takes into account 16 different surveys and assessments from 12 different institutions. The 13 surveys/assessments are either business people opinion surveys or performance assessments from a group of analysts. Early CPIs used public opinion surveys. The institutions are:

• African Development Bank (based in Ivory Coast)
• Bertelsmann Foundation (based in Germany)
• Economist Intelligence Unit (based in the UK)
• Freedom House (based in the US)
• Global Insight (based in US)
• International Institute for Management Development (based in Switzerland)
• Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (based in Hong Kong)
• The PRS Group, Inc., (based in the US)
• World Economic Forum
• World Bank
• World Justice Project (based in US)

Countries need to be evaluated by at least three sources to appear in the CPI. The CPI measures perception of corruption due to the difficulty of measuring absolute levels of corruption.

Validity

A study published in 2002 found a "very strong significant correlation" between the Corruption Perceptions Index and two other proxies for corruption: black market activity and an overabundance of regulation.

All three metrics also had a highly significant correlation with real gross domestic product per capita (RGDP/Cap); the Corruption Perceptions Index correlation with RGDP/Cap was the strongest, explaining over three fourths of the variance. (Note that a lower index on this scale reflects greater corruption, so that countries with higher RGDPs generally had less corruption.)

Economic implications

Research papers published in 2007 and 2008 examined the economic consequences of corruption perception, as defined by the CPI. The researchers found a correlation between a higher CPI and higher long-term economic growth, as well as an increase in GDP growth of 1.7% for every unit increase in a country's CPI score. Also shown was a power-law dependence linking higher CPI score to higher rates of foreign investment in a country.

Rankings

Legend:

Scores	Perceived as less corrupt					Perceived as more corrupt
	100–090	089–080	079–070	069–060	059–050	049–040	039-030	029–020	019–010	009–000

2012–2019

2012–2019 Corruption Perceptions Index table

Rank	Nation or Territory	2019		2018		2017		2016		2015		2014		2013		2012
		Score	Change in score from previous year	Score	Change in score from previous year	Score	Change in score from previous year	Score	Change in score from previous year	Score	Change in score from previous year	Score	Change in score from previous year	Score	Change in score from previous year	Score
1	New Zealand	87		87	2	89	1	90	1	91		91		91	1	90
1	Denmark	87	1	88		88	2	90	1	91	1	92	1	91	1	90
3	Finland	86	1	85		85	4	89	1	90	1	89		89	1	90
4	Sweden	85		85	1	84	4	88	1	89	2	87	2	89	1	88
4	Switzerland	85		85		85	1	86		86		86	1	85	1	86
4	Singapore	85		85	1	84		84	1	85	1	84	2	86	1	87
7	Norway	84		84	1	85		85	2	87	1	86		86	1	85
8	Netherlands	82		82		82	1	83	4	87	4	83		83	1	84
9	Luxembourg	80	1	81	1	82	1	81		81	1	82	2	80		80
9	Germany	80		80	1	81		81		81	2	79	1	78	1	79
11	Iceland	78	2	76	1	77	1	78	1	79		79	1	78	4	82
12	Canada	77	4	81	1	82		82	1	83	2	81		81	3	84
12	United Kingdom	77	3	80	2	82	1	81		81	3	78	2	76	2	74
12	Australia	77		77		77	2	79		79	1	80	1	81	4	85
12	Austria	77	1	76	1	75		75	1	76	4	72	3	69		69
16	Hong Kong	76		76	1	77		77	2	75	1	74	1	75	2	77
17	Belgium	75		75		75	2	77		77	1	76	1	75		75
18	Ireland	74	1	73	1	74	1	73	2	75	1	74	2	72	3	69
18	Estonia	74	1	73	2	71	1	70		70	1	69	1	68	4	64
20	Japan	73		73		73	1	72	3	75	1	76	2	74		74
21	Uruguay	71	1	70		70	1	71	3	74	1	73		73	1	72
21	United Arab Emirates	71	1	70	1	71	5	66	4	70		70	1	69	1	68
23	France	69	3	72	2	70	2	69	1	70	1	69	2	71		71
23	United States	69	2	71	4	75	1	74	2	76	2	74	1	73		73
25	Bhutan	68		68	1	67	2	65		65		65	2	63		63
26	Chile	67		67		67	1	66	4	70	3	73	2	71	1	72
28	Taiwan	65	2	63		63	2	61	1	62	1	61		61		61
29	Bahamas	64	1	65		65	1	66				71		71		71
30	Spain	62	4	58	1	57	1	58		58	2	60	1	59	6	65
30	Barbados	62	6	68		68	7	61				74	1	75	1	76
30	Portugal	62	2	64	1	63	1	62	1	63		63	1	62	1	63
30	Qatar	62		62	1	63	2	61	10	71	2	69	1	68		68
34	Botswana	61		61		61	1	60	3	63		63	1	64	1	65
35	Brunei	60	3	63	1	62	4	58						60	5	55
35	Israel	60	1	61	1	62	2	64	3	61	1	60	1	61	1	60
35	Slovenia	60		60	1	61		61	1	60	2	58	1	57	4	61
35	Lithuania	60	1	59		59		59	2	61	3	58	1	57	3	54
39	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	59	1	58		58	2	60				67	5	62		62
39	South Korea	59	2	57	3	54	1	53	3	56	1	55		55	1	56
41	Poland	58	2	60		60	2	62		62	1	61	1	60	2	58
41	Cyprus	58	1	59	2	57	2	55	6	61	2	63		63	3	66
41	Cape Verde	58	1	57	2	55	4	59	4	55	2	57	1	58	2	60
44	Czech Republic	56	3	59	2	57	2	55	1	56	5	51	3	48	1	49
44	Georgia	56	2	58	2	56	1	57	5	52		52	3	49	3	52
44	Latvia	56	2	58		58	1	57	2	55		55	2	53	4	49
44	Costa Rica	56		56	3	59	1	58	3	55	1	54	1	53	1	54
48	Dominica	55	2	57		57	2	59				58		58		58
48	Saint Lucia	55		55		55	5	60						71		71
50	Malta	54		54	2	56	1	55	1	56	1	55	1	56	1	57
51	Rwanda	53	3	56	1	55	1	54		54	5	49	4	53		53
51	Grenada	53	1	52		52	4	56
51	Italy	53	1	52	2	50	3	47	3	44	1	43		43	1	42
51	Saudi Arabia	53	4	49		49	3	46	6	52	3	49	3	46	2	44
51	Malaysia	53	6	47		47	2	49	1	50	2	52	2	50	1	49
56	Namibia	52	1	53	2	51	1	52	1	53	4	49	1	48		48
56	Oman	52		52	8	44	1	45		45		45	2	47		47
56	Mauritius	52	1	51	1	50	4	54	1	53	1	54	2	52	5	57
59	Slovakia	50		50		50	1	51		51	1	50	3	47	1	46
60	Jordan	48	1	49	1	48		48	5	53	4	49	4	45	3	48
60	Cuba	48	1	47		47		47		47	1	46		46	2	48
60	Greece	48	3	45	3	48	4	44	2	46	3	43	3	40	4	36
63	Croatia	47	1	48	1	49		49	2	51	3	48		48	2	46
64	São Tomé and Príncipe	46		46		46		46	4	42		42		42		42
66	Montenegro	45		45	1	46	1	45	1	44	2	42	2	44	3	41
66	Senegal	45		45		45		45	1	44	1	43	2	41	5	36
66	Belarus	45	1	44		44	4	40	8	32	1	31	2	29	2	31
66	Argentina	45	5	40	1	39	3	36	4	32	2	34		34	1	35
70	Romania	44	3	47	1	48		48	2	46	3	43		43	1	44
70	South Africa	44	1	43		43	2	45	1	44		44	2	42	1	43
70	Suriname	44	1	43	2	41	4	45	9	36		36		36	1	37
70	Hungary	44	2	46	1	45	3	48	3	51	3	54		54	1	55
74	Jamaica	43	1	44		44	5	39	2	41	3	38		38		38
74	Tunisia	43		43	1	42	1	41	3	38	2	40	1	41		41
74	Bulgaria	43	1	42	1	43	2	41		41	2	43	2	41		41
77	Solomon Islands	42	2	44	5	39	3	42
77	Bahrain	42	6	36		36	7	43	8	51	2	49	1	48	3	51
77	Armenia	42	7	35		35	2	33	2	35	2	37	1	36	2	34
80	Morocco	41	2	43	3	40	3	37	1	36	3	39	2	37		37
80	India	41		41	1	40		40	2	38		38	2	36		36
80	Ghana	41		41	1	40	3	43	4	47	1	48	2	46	1	45
80	Benin	41	1	40	1	39	3	36	1	37	2	39	3	36		36
80	China	41	2	39	2	41	1	40	3	37	1	36	4	40	1	39
85	Burkina Faso	40	1	41	1	42		42	4	38		38		38		38
85	Kuwait	40	1	41	2	39	2	41	8	49	5	44	1	43	1	44
85	Indonesia	40	2	38	1	37		37	1	36	2	34	2	32		32
85	Guyana	40	3	37	1	38	4	34	5	29	1	30	3	27	1	28
85	Lesotho	40	1	41	1	42	3	39	5	44	5	49		49	4	45
85	Trinidad and Tobago	40	1	41		41	6	35	4	39	1	38		38	1	39
91	Serbia	39		39	2	41	1	42	2	40	1	41	1	42	3	39
91	Turkey	39	2	41	1	40	1	41	1	42	3	45	5	50	1	49
93	East Timor	38	3	35	3	38	3	35	7	28		28	2	30	3	33
93	Sri Lanka	38		38		38	2	36	1	37	1	38	1	37	3	40
93	Ecuador	38	4	34	2	32	1	31	1	32	1	33	2	35	3	32
96	Vietnam	37	4	33	2	35	2	33	2	31		31		31		31
96	Colombia	37	1	36	1	37		37		37		37	1	36		36
96	Tanzania	37	1	36		36	4	32	2	30	1	31	2	33	2	35
96	Ethiopia	37	3	34	1	35	1	34	1	33		33		33		33
96	Gambia	37		37	7	30	4	26	2	28	1	29	1	28	6	34
101	Bosnia and Herzegovina	36	2	38		38	1	39	1	38	1	39	3	42		42
101	Panama	36	1	37		37	1	38	1	39	2	37	2	35	3	38
101	Kosovo	36	1	37	2	39	3	36	3	33		33		33	1	34
101	Thailand	36		36	1	37	2	35	3	38		38	3	35	2	37
101	Peru	36	1	35	2	37	2	35	1	36	2	38		38		38
105	Egypt	35		35	3	32	2	34	2	36	1	37	5	32		32
106	Ivory Coast	35		35	1	36	2	34	2	32		32	5	27	2	29
106	Mongolia	35	2	37	1	36	2	38	1	39		39	1	38	2	36
106	North Macedonia	35	2	37	2	35	2	37	5	42	3	45	1	44	1	43
106	Albania	35	1	36	2	38	1	39	3	36	3	33	2	31	2	33
106	Brazil	35		35	2	37	3	40	2	38	5	43	1	42	1	43
106	Algeria	35		35	2	33	1	34	2	36		36		36	2	34
113	Philippines	34	2	36	2	34	1	35		35	3	38	2	36	2	34
113	Zambia	34	1	35	2	37	1	38		38		38		38	1	37
113	El Salvador	34	1	35	2	33	3	36	3	39		39	1	38		38
113	Kazakhstan	34	3	31		31	2	29	1	28	1	29	3	26	2	28
113	Nepal	34	3	31		31	2	29	2	27	2	29	2	31	4	27
119	Sierra Leone	33	3	30		30		30	1	29	2	31	1	30	1	31
120	Niger	32	2	34	1	33	2	35	1	34	1	35	1	34	1	33
120	Pakistan	32	1	33	1	32		32	2	30	1	29	1	28	1	27
120	Moldova	32	1	33	2	31	1	30	3	33	2	35		35	1	36
123	Bolivia	31	2	29	4	33		33	1	34	1	35	1	34		34
123	Malawi	31	1	32	1	31		31		31	2	33	4	37		37
123	Gabon	31		31	1	32	3	35	1	34	3	37	3	34	1	35
126	Djibouti	30	1	31		31	1	30	4	34		34	2	36		36
126	Ukraine	30	2	32	2	30	1	29	2	27	1	26	1	25	1	26
126	Azerbaijan	30	5	25	6	31	1	30	1	29		29	1	28	1	27
126	Kyrgyzstan	30	1	29		29	1	28		28	1	27	3	24		24
130	Myanmar	29		29	1	30	2	28	6	22	1	21		21	6	15
130	Mexico	29	1	28	1	29	1	30	5	35		35	1	34		34
130	Mali	29	3	32	1	31	1	32	3	35	3	32	4	28	6	34
130	Maldives	29	2	31	2	33	3	36
130	Togo	29	1	30	2	32		32		32	3	29		29	1	30
130	Guinea	29	1	28	1	27		27	2	25		25	1	24		24
130	Laos	29		29		29	1	30	5	25		25	1	26	5	21
137	Liberia	28	4	32	1	31	6	37		37		37	1	38	3	41
137	Dominican Republic	28	2	30	1	29	2	31	2	33	1	32	3	29	3	32
137	Paraguay	28	1	29		29	1	30	3	27	3	24		24	1	25
137	Russia	28		28	1	29		29		29	2	27	1	28		28
137	Lebanon	28		28		28		28		28	1	27	1	28	2	30
137	Papua New Guinea	28		28	1	29	1	28	3	25		25		25		25
137	Mauritania	28	1	27	1	28	1	27	4	31	1	30		30	1	31
137	Uganda	28	2	26		26	1	25		25	1	26		26	3	29
137	Kenya	28	1	27	1	28	2	26	1	25		25	2	27		27
146	Honduras	26	3	29		29	1	30	1	31	2	29	3	26	2	28
146	Iran	26	2	28	2	30	1	29	2	27		27	2	25	3	28
146	Guatemala	26	1	27	1	28		28		28	4	32	3	29	4	33
146	Nigeria	26	1	27		27	1	28	2	26	1	27	2	25	2	27
146	Mozambique	26	3	23	2	25	2	27	4	31		31	1	30	1	31
146	Bangladesh	26		26	2	28	2	26	1	25		25	2	27	1	26
146	Angola	26	7	19		19	1	18	3	15	4	19	4	23	1	22
153	Comoros	25	2	27		27	3	24	2	26		26	2	28		28
153	Uzbekistan	25	2	23	1	22	1	21	2	19	1	18	1	17		17
153	Tajikistan	25		25	4	21	4	25	1	26	3	23	1	22		22
153	Central African Republic	25	1	26	3	23	3	20	4	24		24	1	25	1	26
153	Cameroon	25		25		25	1	26	1	27		27	2	25	1	26
158	Madagascar	24	1	25	1	24	2	26	2	28		28		28	4	32
158	Zimbabwe	24	2	22		22		22	1	21		21		21	1	20
160	Eritrea	23	1	24	4	20	2	18		18		18	2	20	5	25
161	Nicaragua	22	3	25	1	26		26	1	27	1	28		28	1	29
162	Cambodia	20		20	1	21		21		21		21	1	20	2	22
162	Chad	20	1	19	1	20		20	2	22		22	3	19		19
162	Iraq	20	2	18		18	1	17	1	16		16		16	2	18
165	Turkmenistan	19	1	20	1	19	3	22	4	18	1	17		17		17
165	Republic of the Congo	19		19	2	21	1	20	3	23		23	1	22	4	26
165	Burundi	19	2	17	5	22	2	20	1	21	1	20	1	21	2	19
168	Haiti	18	2	20	2	22	2	20	3	17	2	19		19		19
168	DR Congo	18	1	19	2	21		21	1	22		22		22	1	21
168	Guinea-Bissau	18	9	28	1	27	11	16	1	17	2	19		19	6	25
168	Libya	18	1	17		17	3	14	2	16	2	18	3	15	6	21
172	North Korea	17	3	14	3	17	9	08		08		08		08		08
173	Venezuela	16	2	18		18	1	17		17	2	19	1	20	1	19
173	Afghanistan	16		16	1	15		15	4	11	1	12	4	08		08
173	Sudan	16		16		16	2	14	2	12	1	11		11	2	13
176	Yemen	15	1	14	2	16	2	14	4	18	1	19	1	18	5	23
177	Syria	13		13	1	14	1	13	5	18	2	20	3	17	9	26
178	South Sudan	12	1	13	1	12	1	11	4	15		15	1	14
179	Somalia	09	1	10	1	09	1	10	2	08		08		08		08

2011

The 20 top countries or regions that were ranked as having the lowest perceived levels of corruption were (note scale of 10 to 1):

#	Country	Score	#	Country/Region	Score
1	New Zealand	9.5	11	Luxembourg	8.5
2	Denmark	9.4	12	Hong Kong	8.4
	Finland		13	Iceland	8.3
4	Sweden	9.3	14	Germany	8.0
5	Singapore	9.2		Japan
6	Norway	9.0	16	Austria	7.8
7	Netherlands	8.9		Barbados
8	Australia	8.8		United Kingdom
	Switzerland		19	Belgium	7.5
10	Canada	8.7		Ireland
Source:

The 20 bottom countries that were ranked as having the highest perceived levels of corruption were:

#	Country	Score	#	Country	Score
182	Somalia	1.0	172	Equatorial Guinea	1.9
	North Korea			Burundi
180	Myanmar	1.5	168	Libya	2.0
	Afghanistan			DR Congo
177	Uzbekistan	1.6		Chad
	Turkmenistan			Angola
	Sudan		164	Yemen	2.1
175	Iraq	1.8		Kyrgyzstan
	Haiti			Guinea
172	Venezuela	1.9		Cambodia
Source:

2010

The 20 top countries or regions that were ranked as having the lowest perceived levels of corruption were (note scale of 10 down to 1):

#	Country	Score	#	Country/Region	Score
1	Denmark	9.3	11	Iceland	8.5
	New Zealand			Luxembourg
	Singapore		13	Hong Kong	8.4
4	Finland	9.2	14	Ireland	8.0
	Sweden		15	Austria	7.9
6	Canada	8.9		Germany
7	Netherlands	8.8	17	Barbados	7.8
8	Australia	8.7		Japan
	Switzerland		19	Qatar	7.7
10	Norway	8.6	20	United Kingdom	7.6
Source:

The 20 bottom countries that were ranked as having the highest perceived levels of corruption were:

#	Country	Score	#	Country	Score
178	Somalia	1.1	168	Angola	1.9
176	Myanmar	1.4	164	Venezuela	2.0
	Afghanistan			Kyrgyzstan
175	Iraq	1.5		Guinea
172	Uzbekistan	1.6		DR Congo
	Turkmenistan		159	Tajikistan	2.1
	Sudan			Russia
171	Chad	1.7		Papua New Guinea
170	Burundi	1.8		Laos
168	Equatorial Guinea	1.9		Kenya
Source:

Criticism and limitations

The Index has been criticized on the basis of its methodology.

According to political scientist Dan Hough, three flaws in the Index include:

• Corruption is too complex a concept to be captured by a single score. For instance, the nature of corruption in rural Kansas will be different from that in the city administration of New York, yet the Index measures them in the same way.
• By measuring perceptions of corruption, as opposed to corruption itself, the Index may simply be reinforcing existing stereotypes and cliches.
• The Index only measures public sector corruption, ignoring the private sector. This, for instance, means the well-publicized Libor scandal or the VW emissions scandal are not counted as corrupt actions.

Media outlets frequently use the raw numbers as a yardstick for government performance, without clarifying what the numbers mean. The local Transparency International chapter in Bangladesh disowned the index results after a change in methodology caused the country's scores to increase; media reported it as an "improvement".

In a 2013 article in Foreign Policy, Alex Cobham suggested that CPI should be dropped for the good of Transparency International. It argues that the CPI embeds a powerful and misleading elite bias in popular perceptions of corruption, potentially contributing to a vicious cycle and at the same time incentivizing inappropriate policy responses. Cobham writes, "the index corrupts perceptions to the extent that it's hard to see a justification for its continuing publication."

However, recent econometric analyses that have exploited the existence of natural experiments on the level of corruption and compared the CPI with other subjective indicators have found that, while not perfect, the CPI is argued to be broadly consistent with one-dimensional measures of corruption.

In the United States, many lawyers advise international businesses to consult the CPI when attempting to measure the risk of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations in different nations. This practice has been criticized by the Minnesota Journal of International Law, which wrote that since the CPI may be subject to perceptual biases it therefore should not be considered by lawyers to be a measure of actual national corruption risk.

Transparency International also publishes the Global Corruption Barometer, which ranks countries by corruption levels using direct surveys instead of perceived expert opinions, which has been under criticism for substantial bias from the powerful elite.

Transparency International has warned that a country with a clean CPI score may still be linked to corruption internationally. For example, while Sweden had the 3rd best CPI score in 2015, one of its state-owned companies, TeliaSonera, was facing allegations of bribery in Uzbekistan.

See also

• Democracy Index
• Capacity to Combat Corruption Index (CCC)

External links

• Official site
• Transparency International (2010). Corruption Perceptions Index 2010: Long methodological brief (PDF) (Report). Transparency International. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
• Corruption Perceptions Index 2013
• Interactive world map of the Corruption Perception Index: 2000-2008
• A Users' Guide to Measuring Corruption critiques the CPI and similar indices.
• Global Integrity Index
• List of Global Development Indexes and Rankings