Corruption Perceptions Index 2023

GLOBAL HIGHLIGHTS In the 20 years since the adoption of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), 190 countries have united under it to stop corruption. However, they are largely failing to achieve this – over 80 per cent of the world’s population lives in countries with CPI scores below the global average of 43. In addition, the top 25 countries in the index make up just over 10 per cent of all people. Corruption therefore remains a challenge that directly or indirectly harms most people. The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public-sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople. It relies on 13 independent data sources and uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. Countries with strong rule of law and well-functioning democratic institutions often sit at the top of the index. Democratic countries tend to greatly outperform authoritarian regimes when controlling corruption – full democracies have a CPI average of 73, flawed democracies have one of 48 and non-democratic regimes just 32. AVERAGE REGIONAL SCORE LOWEST SCORING REGION 33 /100 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AVERAGE REGIONAL SCORE HIGHEST SCORING REGION 65 /100 WESTERN EUROPE & EUROPEAN UNION CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX 2023 7 Embargoed until 07.01am CET (Berlin) 30 January 2024