The people’s best interests aren’t always at the front of the plan for all administrations. Political scandals and corruption are common in many nations, and those in positions of authority have difficulty rejecting this temptation.
It’s generated political turmoil in several nations because of a long-standing history of corruption.
The Corruption Perceptions Index was introduced.
Transparency.org established the Corruption Perceptions Index to rate nations based on their perceived levels of corruption to shed light on the problem and spur positive change. The index is based on expert evaluations and opinion polls.
It was founded in 1995 and aimed to combat corruption by defining it as the abuse of public authority for private gain.
Using a scale of 0 to 100, the 2021 CPI rated 180 countries. A country’s corruption level rises directly to its Corruption Index score.
According to the 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index, the following countries have the highest levels of corruption:
On a scale of 0 to 100, how corrupt is the CPI?
- South Sudan – 11
- Somalia – 13 (tie)
- Syria – 13 (tie)
- Venezuela – 14
- Afghanistan – 16 (tie)
- North Korea – 16 (tie)
- Yemen – 16 (tie)
- Equatorial Guinea – 17 (tie)
- Libya – 17 (tie)
- Burundi – 19 (tie)
- Congo (Dem. Republic of) – 19 (tie)
- Turkmenistan – 19 (tie)
Despite being regarded as the world’s most corrupt nation year after year, Somalia has steadily improved, going from a score of 9 in 2019 to a 12 in 2020 to a 13 in 2021. South Sudan’s score lowers from 12 in 2020 to 11 in 2021, which is the opposite direction.
This puts South Sudan at the top of the world’s most corrupt nations. Syria comes in the third position, scoring 13 out of 100 for most corruption (one lower than the previous year).
For the ninth year in succession, the average CPI score was 43/100, and two-thirds of nations scored below 50/100. Unfortunately, the perception of corruption is a persistent issue across the globe.

Different perspectives on national corruption
Other research, on the other hand, has different results. Over 17,000 people were questioned for the U.S. News & World Report, BAV Group, and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania’s 2021 Best Countries rankings.
Iraq was named the most corrupt country in the world for 2021 out of a pool of 78 nations. There were second and third places for Colombia and Mexico.
The following are the world’s ten most corrupt nations, according to the 2021 Best Countries rankings:
- Iraq
- Colombia
- Mexico
- Brazil
- Russia
- Guatemala
- Kazakhstan
- Lebanon
- El Salvador
- Azerbaijan
Also See: Monarchy Countries 2022
In which countries do people have the least access to bribes?
New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Singapore are the least corrupt nations in the CPI report for 2022.
Country | Corruption Index 2021 | Corruption Index 2020 | 2022 Population |
---|---|---|---|
Brunei | 60 | 449.0020 | |
South Sudan | 11 | 12 | 10913.1640 |
Syria | 13 | 14 | 22125.2490 |
Somalia | 13 | 12 | 17597.5110 |
Venezuela | 14 | 15 | 28301.6960 |
Afghanistan | 16 | 19 | 41128.7710 |
Yemen | 16 | 15 | 33696.6140 |
North Korea | 16 | 18 | 26069.4160 |
Libya | 17 | 17 | 6812.3410 |
Equatorial Guinea | 17 | 16 | 1674.9080 |
DR Congo | 19 | 18 | 99010.2120 |
Burundi | 19 | 19 | 12889.5760 |
Turkmenistan | 19 | 19 | 6430.7700 |
Sudan | 20 | 16 | 46874.2040 |
Chad | 20 | 21 | 17723.3150 |
Haiti | 20 | 18 | 11584.9960 |
Nicaragua | 20 | 22 | 6948.3920 |
Comoros | 20 | 21 | 836.7740 |
Republic of the Congo | 21 | 5970.4240 | |
Guinea-Bissau | 21 | 2105.5660 | |
Eritrea | 22 | 21 | 3684.0320 |
Iraq | 23 | 21 | 44496.1220 |
Cambodia | 23 | 21 | 16767.8420 |
Zimbabwe | 23 | 24 | 16320.5370 |
Honduras | 23 | 24 | 10432.8600 |
Nigeria | 24 | 25 | 218541.2120 |
Central African Republic | 24 | 26 | 5579.1440 |
Lebanon | 24 | 25 | 5489.7390 |
Iran | 25 | 25 | 88550.5700 |
Guatemala | 25 | 25 | 17843.9080 |
Guinea | 25 | 28 | 13859.3410 |
Tajikistan | 25 | 25 | 9952.7870 |
Bangladesh | 26 | 26 | 171186.3720 |
Mozambique | 26 | 25 | 32969.5180 |
Madagascar | 26 | 25 | 29611.7140 |
Uganda | 27 | 27 | 47249.5850 |
Cameroon | 27 | 25 | 27914.5360 |
Kyrgyzstan | 27 | 31 | 6630.6230 |
Pakistan | 28 | 31 | 235824.8620 |
Myanmar | 28 | 28 | 54179.3060 |
Uzbekistan | 28 | 26 | 34627.6520 |
Mauritania | 28 | 29 | 4736.1390 |
Russia | 29 | 30 | 144713.3140 |
Angola | 29 | 27 | 35588.9870 |
Mali | 29 | 30 | 22593.5900 |
Liberia | 29 | 28 | 5302.6810 |
Kenya | 30 | 31 | 54027.4870 |
Bolivia | 30 | 31 | 12224.1100 |
Dominican Republic | 30 | 28 | 11228.8210 |
Azerbaijan | 30 | 30 | 10358.0740 |
Togo | 30 | 29 | 8848.6990 |
Laos | 30 | 29 | 7529.4750 |
Paraguay | 30 | 28 | 6780.7440 |
Djibouti | 30 | 27 | 1120.8490 |
Mexico | 31 | 31 | 127504.1250 |
Niger | 31 | 32 | 26207.9770 |
Papua New Guinea | 31 | 27 | 10142.6190 |
Gabon | 31 | 30 | 2388.9920 |
Ukraine | 32 | 33 | 39701.7390 |
Eswatini | 32 | 33 | 1201.6700 |
Philippines | 33 | 34 | 115559.0090 |
Egypt | 33 | 33 | 110990.1030 |
Algeria | 33 | 36 | 44903.2250 |
Nepal | 33 | 33 | 30547.5800 |
Zambia | 33 | 33 | 20017.6750 |
Sierra Leone | 34 | 33 | 8605.7180 |
El Salvador | 34 | 36 | 6336.3920 |
Thailand | 35 | 36 | 71697.0300 |
Malawi | 35 | 30 | 20405.3170 |
Mongolia | 35 | 35 | 3398.3660 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 35 | 35 | 3233.5260 |
Albania | 35 | 36 | 2842.3210 |
Peru | 36 | 38 | 34049.5880 |
Ivory Coast | 36 | 36 | 28160.5420 |
Ecuador | 36 | 39 | 18001 |
Panama | 36 | 35 | 4408.5810 |
Moldova | 36 | 34 | 3272.9960 |
Sri Lanka | 37 | 38 | 21832.1430 |
Kazakhstan | 37 | 38 | 19397.9980 |
Gambia | 37 | 37 | 2705.9920 |
Indonesia | 38 | 37 | 275501.3390 |
Brazil | 38 | 38 | 215313.4980 |
Turkey | 38 | 40 | 85341.2410 |
Argentina | 38 | 42 | 45510.3180 |
Serbia | 38 | 38 | 7221.3650 |
Lesotho | 38 | 41 | 2305.8250 |
Ethiopia | 39 | 38 | 123379.9240 |
Vietnam | 39 | 36 | 98186.8560 |
Tanzania | 39 | 38 | 65497.7480 |
Colombia | 39 | 39 | 51874.0240 |
Morocco | 39 | 40 | 37457.9710 |
North Macedonia | 39 | 35 | 2093.5990 |
Guyana | 39 | 41 | 808.7260 |
Suriname | 39 | 38 | 618.0400 |
India | 40 | 40 | 1417173.1730 |
Maldives | 40 | 43 | 523.7870 |
Belarus | 41 | 47 | 9534.9540 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 41 | 40 | 1531.0440 |
Timor-Leste | 41 | 40 | 1341.2960 |
Burkina Faso | 42 | 40 | 22673.7620 |
Benin | 42 | 41 | 13352.8640 |
Bulgaria | 42 | 44 | 6781.9530 |
Bahrain | 42 | 42 | 1472.2330 |
Ghana | 43 | 43 | 33475.8700 |
Senegal | 43 | 45 | 17316.4490 |
Hungary | 43 | 44 | 9967.3080 |
Kuwait | 43 | 42 | 4268.8730 |
Solomon Islands | 43 | 42 | 724.2730 |
South Africa | 44 | 44 | 59893.8850 |
Tunisia | 44 | 44 | 12356.1170 |
Jamaica | 44 | 44 | 2827.3770 |
China | 45 | 42 | 1425887.3370 |
Romania | 45 | 44 | 19659.2670 |
Vanuatu | 45 | 43 | 326.7400 |
Sao Tome and Principe | 45 | 47 | 227.3800 |
Cuba | 46 | 47 | 11212.1910 |
Montenegro | 46 | 45 | 627.0820 |
Croatia | 47 | 47 | 4030.3580 |
Malaysia | 48 | 51 | 33938.2210 |
Jordan | 49 | 49 | 11285.8690 |
Greece | 49 | 50 | 10384.9710 |
Armenia | 49 | 49 | 2780.4690 |
Namibia | 49 | 51 | 2567.0120 |
Slovakia | 52 | 49 | 5643.4530 |
Oman | 52 | 54 | 4576.2980 |
Saudi Arabia | 53 | 53 | 36408.8200 |
Rwanda | 53 | 54 | 13776.6980 |
Cyprus | 53 | 57 | 1251.4880 |
Grenada | 53 | 53 | 125.4380 |
Czech Republic | 54 | 10493.9860 | |
Mauritius | 54 | 53 | 1299.4690 |
Malta | 54 | 53 | 533.2860 |
Georgia | 55 | 56 | 3744.3850 |
Botswana | 55 | 60 | 2630.2960 |
Fiji | 55 | 929.7660 | |
Dominica | 55 | 55 | 72.7370 |
Italy | 56 | 53 | 59037.4740 |
Poland | 56 | 56 | 39857.1450 |
Saint Lucia | 56 | 56 | 179.8570 |
Slovenia | 57 | 60 | 2119.8440 |
Costa Rica | 58 | 57 | 5180.8290 |
Israel | 59 | 60 | 9038.3090 |
Latvia | 59 | 57 | 1850.6510 |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 59 | 59 | 103.9480 |
Spain | 61 | 62 | 47558.6300 |
Lithuania | 61 | 60 | 2750.0550 |
South Korea | 62 | 61 | 51815.8100 |
Portugal | 62 | 61 | 10270.8650 |
Qatar | 63 | 63 | 2695.1220 |
Bahamas | 64 | 63 | 409.9840 |
Barbados | 65 | 64 | 281.6350 |
United States | 67 | 67 | 338289.8570 |
Chile | 67 | 67 | 19603.7330 |
Taiwan | 68 | 65 | 23893.3940 |
Bhutan | 68 | 68 | 782.4550 |
United Arab Emirates | 69 | 71 | 9441.1290 |
Seychelles | 70 | 66 | 107.1180 |
France | 71 | 69 | 64626.6280 |
Japan | 73 | 74 | 123951.6920 |
Australia | 73 | 77 | 26177.4130 |
Belgium | 73 | 76 | 11655.9300 |
Uruguay | 73 | 71 | 3422.7940 |
Canada | 74 | 77 | 38454.3270 |
Austria | 74 | 76 | 8939.6170 |
Ireland | 74 | 72 | 5023.1090 |
Estonia | 74 | 75 | 1326.0620 |
Iceland | 74 | 75 | 372.8990 |
Hong Kong | 76 | 77 | 7488.8650 |
United Kingdom | 78 | 77 | 67508.9360 |
Germany | 80 | 80 | 83369.8430 |
Luxembourg | 81 | 80 | 647.5990 |
Netherlands | 82 | 82 | 17564.0140 |
Switzerland | 84 | 85 | 8740.4720 |
Sweden | 85 | 85 | 10549.3470 |
Singapore | 85 | 85 | 5975.6890 |
Norway | 85 | 84 | 5434.3190 |
Denmark | 88 | 88 | 5882.2610 |
Finland | 88 | 85 | 5540.7450 |
New Zealand | 88 | 88 | 5185.2880 |