The perceived level of public sector corruption overall has worsened globally according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2025, published on 10 February 2026. “The vast majority of countries are failing to keep corruption under control,” the report says.
The CPI 2025 ranks 182 countries and territories and draws on 13 independent data sources, using a scale from 0, described as “highly corrupt,” to 100, described as “very clean.” Corruption watchdog Transparency International reports that the global average score now stands at 42 out of 100. The organisation says this is the first time in more than a decade that the global average has fallen to that low level.
Transparency International says 122 out of 182 countries and territories, or over two thirds, score under 50, a situation the organisation associates with “serious corruption problems in most parts of the planet.” Only five countries score above 80, down from 12 a decade ago.
The global average score stands at 42 out of 100
The report notes there is a “worrying trend of democracies seeing worsening perceived corruption.” Nonetheless, according to the document, countries rated as “full democracies” have an average CPI score of 71, while “flawed democracies” stand at an average of 47 and “non-democratic regimes” at 32.
A recurring pattern in the report links deteriorating corruption perceptions to shrinking civic space. In almost two thirds of countries whose scores have significantly declined since 2012, Transparency International says there has been a “worrying pattern of restriction on freedoms of expression, association and assembly.” It adds that 36 of the 50 countries with significant declines have also seen a reduction in civic space.
The report highlights risks faced by journalists investigating corruption. Since 2012, in non conflict zones worldwide, 829 journalists have been murdered, including 150 killed while covering corruption related stories, five of them in 2025. Transparency International says over 90% of these killings happened in countries with CPI scores lower than 50.
Looking at longer term shifts since 2012, the report counts 31 countries that improved, 50 that declined, and 100 that did not change. Transparency International calls on governments to strengthen justice systems, ensure independent oversight of public spending, make political finance transparent, protect civic space and media freedom, and close cross border channels that enable laundering and hiding stolen funds.
In December, governments agreed at a meeting in Doha on measures supposed to strengthen the implementation of international commitments under the UN’s Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). Amid “drastic funding cuts for anti-corruption work”, a coalition of civil society organizations pushed toward stronger international peer review under the treaty. According to the UNCAC coalition, civil society was able to “significantly contribute” to the event’s agenda and outcomes.
Recently, the UK and Norway published new anti-corruption strategies, both of which note a commitment to participate in the discussions on the creation of an International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC). Six other countries previously already committed to working towards this goal according to the Civil Society Coalition for the IACC that was launched last November. The proposed new court is to prosecute “grand corruption”. Democracy Without Borders is among the groups that endorse the effort.