To characterize dishonest or fraudulent action by a powerful person, the word corruption is used.
Nationally, the term corruption describes government officials who take advantage of the people they are supposed to serve by abusing their authority, accepting bribes, or engaging in other unethical behavior to enrich themselves.
Corrupt practices plague all countries, but they are most prevalent among the world’s poorest and least developed nations, where there are fewer safeguards against power abuse by the country’s ruling elites.
Any data point cannot directly measure a nation’s level of corruption, but several indicators provide indirect but reliable proof that corruption is present or absent.

Transparency in Public Opinion Survey
The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released yearly by Transparency International, is one of the world’s most comprehensive and reliable measurements of corruption. A scale of 0 (very corrupt) to 100 (very clean) was used to rate the perceived levels of public sector corruption in 180 nations in 2021.
While more than two-thirds of the world’s nations ranked below 50 again in 2021, the average score remained at 43 for another year. A list of the 10 least corrupt countries is shown below, followed by the complete list at the bottom.
Also See: Green Card Lottery Countries 2022
The World’s 10 Least Corrupt Countries (CPI 2021)
- (tie) Denmark – 88
- (tie) Finland – 88
- (tie) New Zealand – 88
- (tie) Norway – 85
- (tie) Singapore – 85
- (tie) Sweden – 85
- Switzerland – 84
- Netherlands – 82
- Luxembourg – 81
- Germany – 80
Many nations on a list of the most developed or richest included on the least corrupt list are also on the list of least corrupt countries. South Sudan, Syria, Somalia, and Venezuela are among the most corrupt nations in the world.
Low-income nations, developing countries, or the least developed countries are also common.
Country | CPI Score 2021 | CPI rank 2021 | 2022 Population |
---|---|---|---|
Denmark | 88 | 1 | 5882.2610 |
Finland | 88 | 1 | 5540.7450 |
New Zealand | 88 | 1 | 5185.2880 |
Sweden | 85 | 4 | 10549.3470 |
Singapore | 85 | 4 | 5975.6890 |
Norway | 85 | 4 | 5434.3190 |
Switzerland | 84 | 7 | 8740.4720 |
Netherlands | 82 | 8 | 17564.0140 |
Luxembourg | 81 | 9 | 647.5990 |
Germany | 80 | 10 | 83369.8430 |
United Kingdom | 78 | 11 | 67508.9360 |
Hong Kong | 76 | 12 | 7488.8650 |
Canada | 74 | 13 | 38454.3270 |
Austria | 74 | 13 | 8939.6170 |
Ireland | 74 | 13 | 5023.1090 |
Estonia | 74 | 13 | 1326.0620 |
Iceland | 74 | 13 | 372.8990 |
Japan | 73 | 18 | 123951.6920 |
Australia | 73 | 18 | 26177.4130 |
Belgium | 73 | 18 | 11655.9300 |
Uruguay | 73 | 18 | 3422.7940 |
France | 71 | 22 | 64626.6280 |
Seychelles | 70 | 23 | 107.1180 |
United Arab Emirates | 69 | 24 | 9441.1290 |
Taiwan | 68 | 25 | 23893.3940 |
Bhutan | 68 | 25 | 782.4550 |
United States | 67 | 27 | 338289.8570 |
Chile | 67 | 27 | 19603.7330 |
Barbados | 65 | 29 | 281.6350 |
Bahamas | 64 | 30 | 409.9840 |
Qatar | 63 | 31 | 2695.1220 |
South Korea | 62 | 32 | 51815.8100 |
Portugal | 62 | 32 | 10270.8650 |
Spain | 61 | 34 | 47558.6300 |
Lithuania | 61 | 34 | 2750.0550 |
Israel | 59 | 36 | 9038.3090 |
Latvia | 59 | 36 | 1850.6510 |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 59 | 36 | 103.9480 |
Costa Rica | 58 | 39 | 5180.8290 |
Slovenia | 57 | 41 | 2119.8440 |
Italy | 56 | 42 | 59037.4740 |
Poland | 56 | 42 | 39857.1450 |
Saint Lucia | 56 | 42 | 179.8570 |
Georgia | 55 | 45 | 3744.3850 |
Botswana | 55 | 45 | 2630.2960 |
Fiji | 55 | 45 | 929.7660 |
Dominica | 55 | 45 | 72.7370 |
Czech Republic | 54 | 49 | 10493.9860 |
Mauritius | 54 | 49 | 1299.4690 |
Malta | 54 | 49 | 533.2860 |
Saudi Arabia | 53 | 52 | 36408.8200 |
Rwanda | 53 | 52 | 13776.6980 |
Cyprus | 53 | 52 | 1251.4880 |
Grenada | 53 | 52 | 125.4380 |
Slovakia | 52 | 56 | 5643.4530 |
Oman | 52 | 56 | 4576.2980 |
Jordan | 49 | 58 | 11285.8690 |
Greece | 49 | 58 | 10384.9710 |
Armenia | 49 | 58 | 2780.4690 |
Namibia | 49 | 58 | 2567.0120 |
Malaysia | 48 | 62 | 33938.2210 |
Croatia | 47 | 63 | 4030.3580 |
Cuba | 46 | 64 | 11212.1910 |
Montenegro | 46 | 64 | 627.0820 |
China | 45 | 66 | 1425887.3370 |
Romania | 45 | 66 | 19659.2670 |
Vanuatu | 45 | 66 | 326.7400 |
Sao Tome and Principe | 45 | 66 | 227.3800 |
South Africa | 44 | 70 | 59893.8850 |
Tunisia | 44 | 70 | 12356.1170 |
Jamaica | 44 | 70 | 2827.3770 |
Ghana | 43 | 73 | 33475.8700 |
Senegal | 43 | 73 | 17316.4490 |
Hungary | 43 | 73 | 9967.3080 |
Kuwait | 43 | 73 | 4268.8730 |
Solomon Islands | 43 | 73 | 724.2730 |
Burkina Faso | 42 | 78 | 22673.7620 |
Benin | 42 | 78 | 13352.8640 |
Bulgaria | 42 | 78 | 6781.9530 |
Bahrain | 42 | 78 | 1472.2330 |
Belarus | 41 | 82 | 9534.9540 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 41 | 82 | 1531.0440 |
Timor-Leste | 41 | 82 | 1341.2960 |
India | 40 | 85 | 1417173.1730 |
Maldives | 40 | 85 | 523.7870 |
Ethiopia | 39 | 87 | 123379.9240 |
Vietnam | 39 | 87 | 98186.8560 |
Tanzania | 39 | 87 | 65497.7480 |
Colombia | 39 | 87 | 51874.0240 |
Morocco | 39 | 87 | 37457.9710 |
North Macedonia | 39 | 87 | 2093.5990 |
Guyana | 39 | 87 | 808.7260 |
Suriname | 39 | 87 | 618.0400 |
Indonesia | 38 | 96 | 275501.3390 |
Brazil | 38 | 96 | 215313.4980 |
Turkey | 38 | 96 | 85341.2410 |
Argentina | 38 | 96 | 45510.3180 |
Serbia | 38 | 96 | 7221.3650 |
Lesotho | 38 | 96 | 2305.8250 |
Sri Lanka | 37 | 102 | 21832.1430 |
Kazakhstan | 37 | 102 | 19397.9980 |
Gambia | 37 | 102 | 2705.9920 |
Peru | 36 | 105 | 34049.5880 |
Ivory Coast | 36 | 105 | 28160.5420 |
Ecuador | 36 | 105 | 18001 |
Panama | 36 | 105 | 4408.5810 |
Moldova | 36 | 105 | 3272.9960 |
Thailand | 35 | 110 | 71697.0300 |
Malawi | 35 | 110 | 20405.3170 |
Mongolia | 35 | 110 | 3398.3660 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 35 | 110 | 3233.5260 |
Albania | 35 | 110 | 2842.3210 |
Sierra Leone | 34 | 115 | 8605.7180 |
El Salvador | 34 | 115 | 6336.3920 |
Philippines | 33 | 117 | 115559.0090 |
Egypt | 33 | 117 | 110990.1030 |
Algeria | 33 | 117 | 44903.2250 |
Nepal | 33 | 117 | 30547.5800 |
Zambia | 33 | 117 | 20017.6750 |
Ukraine | 32 | 122 | 39701.7390 |
Eswatini | 32 | 122 | 1201.6700 |
Mexico | 31 | 124 | 127504.1250 |
Niger | 31 | 124 | 26207.9770 |
Papua New Guinea | 31 | 124 | 10142.6190 |
Gabon | 31 | 124 | 2388.9920 |
Kenya | 30 | 128 | 54027.4870 |
Bolivia | 30 | 128 | 12224.1100 |
Dominican Republic | 30 | 128 | 11228.8210 |
Azerbaijan | 30 | 128 | 10358.0740 |
Togo | 30 | 128 | 8848.6990 |
Laos | 30 | 128 | 7529.4750 |
Paraguay | 30 | 128 | 6780.7440 |
Djibouti | 30 | 128 | 1120.8490 |
Russia | 29 | 136 | 144713.3140 |
Angola | 29 | 136 | 35588.9870 |
Mali | 29 | 136 | 22593.5900 |
Liberia | 29 | 136 | 5302.6810 |
Pakistan | 28 | 140 | 235824.8620 |
Myanmar | 28 | 140 | 54179.3060 |
Uzbekistan | 28 | 140 | 34627.6520 |
Mauritania | 28 | 140 | 4736.1390 |
Uganda | 27 | 144 | 47249.5850 |
Cameroon | 27 | 144 | 27914.5360 |
Kyrgyzstan | 27 | 144 | 6630.6230 |
Bangladesh | 26 | 147 | 171186.3720 |
Mozambique | 26 | 147 | 32969.5180 |
Madagascar | 26 | 147 | 29611.7140 |
Iran | 25 | 150 | 88550.5700 |
Guatemala | 25 | 150 | 17843.9080 |
Guinea | 25 | 150 | 13859.3410 |
Tajikistan | 25 | 150 | 9952.7870 |
Nigeria | 24 | 154 | 218541.2120 |
Central African Republic | 24 | 154 | 5579.1440 |
Lebanon | 24 | 154 | 5489.7390 |
Iraq | 23 | 157 | 44496.1220 |
Cambodia | 23 | 157 | 16767.8420 |
Zimbabwe | 23 | 157 | 16320.5370 |
Honduras | 23 | 157 | 10432.8600 |
Eritrea | 22 | 161 | 3684.0320 |
Sudan | 20 | 164 | 46874.2040 |
Chad | 20 | 164 | 17723.3150 |
Haiti | 20 | 164 | 11584.9960 |
Nicaragua | 20 | 164 | 6948.3920 |
Comoros | 20 | 164 | 836.7740 |
DR Congo | 19 | 169 | 99010.2120 |
Burundi | 19 | 169 | 12889.5760 |
Turkmenistan | 19 | 169 | 6430.7700 |
Libya | 17 | 172 | 6812.3410 |
Equatorial Guinea | 17 | 172 | 1674.9080 |
Afghanistan | 16 | 174 | 41128.7710 |
Yemen | 16 | 174 | 33696.6140 |
North Korea | 16 | 174 | 26069.4160 |
Venezuela | 14 | 177 | 28301.6960 |
Syria | 13 | 178 | 22125.2490 |
Somalia | 13 | 178 | 17597.5110 |
South Sudan | 11 | 180 | 10913.1640 |