Transparency International Publishes The CPI 2025

On 10 February 2026, Transparency International ("TI") published the Corruption Perceptions Index 2025 ("CPI"). The CPI is the most widely used indicator of corruption worldwide, and this year covers 182 countries with the inclusion of Belize and Brunei Darussalam. It scores and ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt a country's public sector is perceived to be by experts and business executives.

Based on data from 13 independent sources, a country/territory's score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 100 means that a country is perceived as very clean. A country's rank indicates its position relative to the other countries/territories included in the index. For a country/territory to be included in the ranking, it must feature in a minimum of three of the CPI's data sources.

Best and worst performers

Overall, the global CPI average dropped to its lowest score in a decade, plummeting 8 points to a score of 42 in 2025. Across the index, the scores of 50 countries have declined since 2012, with 122 now falling under the 50-point mark. At the bottom of the ranking sit Somalia (9) and South Sudan (9) in joint last place.

At the top of the ranking, with 89 points, lies Denmark which remains the highest ranked nation for the eighth year in a row, having lost only a single point since 2024. Of the remaining countries, only four scored above 80 points, including Finland (88), Singapore (84), New Zealand (81) and Norway (81). When compared to the index a decade ago, where 12 countries scored over the 80-point threshold, this represents a stark decrease in the number of top performers.

On a more positive note, the CPI 2025 does commend some countries for their consistent progress and anti-corruption efforts in recent years, including Estonia (76), South Korea (63), Bhutan (71) and Seychelles (68). The CPI credits these improvements to the strengthening of oversight institutions, the integration of regional and global governance standards, and the digitalisation of public services.

Key trends

Globally, the CPI highlights a year of increased conflict, citing greater security and economic concerns as frequent reasons for countries to justify rolling back commitments to anti-corruption measures. 

Notably, the CPI identifies two trends amongst countries whose scores have fallen.

• Firstly, several countries, including Venezuela (10), Syria (15) and Hungary (40) are suffering long-term, persistent and structural erosion of their integrity systems, as a result of the weakening of institutional protections and frequent misapplication of public funds for personal gain. The CPI warns that this type of decline is hard to reverse as corruption becomes entrenched in both political and administrative systems.
• Secondly, even at the upper end of the index, countries such as the US (64), Canada (75) and France (66) have seen a gradual decline in scores as compared to recent years. The CPI attributes this decline to weakening checks and balances, as well as a decrease in enforcement efforts. For example, in February 2025, the US temporarily paused enforcement actions under its foreign anti-bribery laws, pending the issuance of updated guidelines.

The CPI 2025 also notes that public funding, in particular from US aid organisations, dedicated towards global anti-corruption programmes has sharply decreased in 2025, thereby undermining efforts across the world to curb corruption.

Furthermore, 2025 also saw an increase in protests demanding greater accountability from government bodies. Notably, anti-corruption protests in Nepal (34), organised by young students in response to the mismanagement of public funds, led to the resignation of several government officials, including the country's Prime Minister. Similarly, Madagascar (25) saw the dissolution of its government following a series of protests triggered by corruption in the public utilities sector causing frequent water and power outages.

Europe and the UK

In 2025, the regional average score for Western Europe saw a decline from 66 to 64 points, with 13 countries' scores reduced and only seven countries showing improvements. In particular, TI notes that growing attacks on independent media, attempts to dismantle whistleblower protections, and persistent difficulties with enforcement action are contributing to the region's recent decline.

In an effort to combat this, the EU is in the process of adopting a new Anti-Corruption Directive (with agreement reached between Parliament and the Council in December 2025). The Directive aims to standardise corruption offences across jurisdictions and bolster cooperation between member states. 

This year, the UK maintained its rank as the 20^th "cleanest" country with 70 points. Despite this, TI notes that the UK has suffered a significant decline in the past decade, dropping from 11^th place in 2021 to 20^th place today. The public's perception of the UK as a "clean" country appears to have weakened due to major domestic scandals, such as government officials lobbying for private interests.

Various steps to combat corruption and other economic crime are underway in the UK, including the following: 

• In 2025, the UK released its updated National Risk Assessment, identifying key vulnerabilities and emerging threats to reinforce the country's anti-money laundering efforts. In particular, the report highlights how money laundering efforts continue to evolve with emerging technologies, rising geopolitical tensions and the increasing sophistication of criminal networks.
• The UK has also published a new UK Anti-Corruption Strategy (the "Strategy") which aims to tackle the country's main vulnerabilities and build global resilience to corruption (for more detail on the Strategy see our previous post).
• Other forthcoming developments to watch out for include the planned expansion of corporate criminal liability, and a planned Illicit Finance Summit to be hosted by the UK in June 2026.

Implications for businesses

The CPI source data captures a number of manifestations of public sector corruption including bribery, diversion of public funds, access to information on public affairs/government activities, and the ability of governments to contain corruption in the public sector. While there is no indicator which measures objective national levels of corruption directly and exhaustively, the CPI contains the informed views of relevant stakeholders, which generally correlate highly with objective indicators. Therefore, many companies use the CPI as part of their corruption risk analysis, for example in risk assessments and third-party due diligence. Where the CPI has been integrated into relevant processes and procedures, scores should be re-checked annually to ensure they align with the most recent version of the CPI.

More broadly, and for UK businesses in particular, it is worth noting that an economic crime survey conducted in 2024 identified that 55% of companies in the UK have no core anti-corruption measures in place, leaving a significant gap in the UK's preventative framework. As part of its ongoing efforts in relation to financial crime enforcement, the UK released a white paper in early 2026 to reform policing for various corruption offences. Going forward, businesses can therefore expect a proactive approach from UK law enforcement in responding to and enforcing instances of fraud, bribery and money laundering. 

On a global scale, the CPI warns that rising corruption makes it more difficult for businesses to grow and establish themselves, and that civic instability may lead to businesses having to seek economic opportunities elsewhere. At home, the Strategy also identifies that the risk of corruption harms the UK's reputation as a place for legitimate business. Accordingly, it suggests that businesses in the UK should therefore continue to invest in countermeasures and proactive risk management, not only at home but in their overseas operations, in order to promote compliance with domestic and foreign anti-corruption regulations.

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