List of Most and Least Corrupt Nations in the World 2025

According to the latest Corruption Perceptions Index, CPI 2024, which was released in 2025, Denmark is the least corrupt country in the world, while sitting at the bottom are South Sudan, Somalia, and Syria as the most corrupt nations. India scores 38 and ranks 96th out of 180 countries, reflecting persistent governance and integrity challenges.

What are the CPI Measures?

The Corruption Perceptions Index, published by Transparency International, ranks 180 countries and territories by perceived levels of public sector corruption. From a score of 0 being highly corrupt to 100 being very clean, countries are ranked according to expert assessments and business surveys.

The 2024 edition indicates that more than two-thirds of countries score below 50, with an average global score of about 43, while corruption remains a structural problem in the world. Indeed, the CPI has come to be used by policymakers, investors, civil society, and examination aspirants around the world to benchmark quality in governance across nations.

Top 10 Least Corrupt Countries (CPI 2024)

These are the countries with the highest CPI scores, indicating relatively clean public sectors.

Note: Scores are on a 0–100 scale, higher is less corrupt.

These countries typically combine strong rule of law, independent judiciaries, transparent public finance systems and robust oversight institutions. They also feature low levels of petty bribery and effective controls on conflicts of interest and political financing.

Top 10 Most Corrupt Countries (CPI 2024)

At the bottom are states facing conflict, authoritarianism and very weak institutions, reflected in extremely low CPI scores.

Note: Scores are on a 0–100 scale, lower is more corrupt.

These are countries that very often experience protracted violence, opaque security spending, capture of state resources by elites, and near-total absence of accountability. In such environments, citizens face limited access to essential services with minimal avenues to challenge corruption.

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Where does India stand in CPI 2024?

In the CPI 2024, India scores 38 out of 100 and ranks 96th among 180 countries, positioning it in the lower middle of the global table. This score indicates that corruption is still a big issue, especially in the areas of public service delivery, public procurement, and political finance.

India's rank is comparable with nations like Gambia and Maldives, which are similarly scored in the high‑30s. While reforms such as those related to digital governance, direct benefit transfers, and insolvency have improved some aspects of transparency, there were still issues related to opaque election funding, regulatory capture, and local‑level bribery that weighed on perceptions.

Regional and Global Patterns

High‑income democracies in Western Europe, North America and parts of Asia‑Pacific dominate the top ranks, showing that strong institutions and civic freedoms tend to correlate with lower corruption. Conversely, many low‑income, conflict‑affected or authoritarian regimes cluster near the bottom, highlighting how corruption and instability reinforce each other.

The CPI 2024 also underlines the stagnation of most countries, which have made little to no progress over the last decade with many backsliding on checks and balances and media freedom. Transparency International emphasizes that without serious political will-including independent judiciaries, protection for whistle‑blowers, and limits on money in politics-even high performers can see their scores erode over time.

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