Transparency International provides an annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople.
The index uses a scale of 0-100, where 0 signifies a perception that a country is “highly corrupt”, and 100 signifies that a country is perceived as “very clean”.
This article explores which countries are rated as the most and the least corrupt by Transparency International, and some of the key global trends which have been observed.
The results at a glance
The 2022 CPI shows that most countries are failing to stop corruption and bribery.
155 countries have made no significant progress against corruption or have declined since 2012. More than two-thirds of countries score below 50, while 26 countries have fallen to their lowest scores yet.
Key trends
Transparency International observed several key trends throughout 2022 that have led to the continued perpetration of corruption including the harbouring of corrupt assets, tolerating enablers, and perpetuating impunity.
Harbouring corrupt assets
Financial secrecy presents a significant obstacle to fighting global corruption. For example, in a project to track down and catalogue the vast wealth held outside Russia by oligarchs and key figures close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, most information on the real owners of yachts, villas and private jets was obscured under layers of secrecy.
Tolerating enablers
Corrupt actors around the world often enlist the services of financial sector professionals in countries rated as the least corrupt, to facilitate their activities.
This problem is exacerbated by the fact that in countries like the United States, certain financial service providers such as investment advisers, wealth managers, and trust and company formation agents escape regulation.
Perpetuating impunity
Perpetrators of corruption often enjoy impunity because authorities charged with identifying and sanctioning illicit wealth often do not have sufficient resources to do so.
Furthermore, many countries that performed well in the 2022 CPI were found to have neglected their international obligations to punish their national companies bribing officials abroad.
How is Australia perceived?
In the 2022 CPI, Australia received a score of 75/100, ranking as having the 13th lowest level of perceived corruption compared to the other countries in the Index.
While Australia’s score in the CPI has been decreasing since 2012 when it scored 85, the 2022 score marks a welcome increase of two points compared to 2021.
Which countries were perceived as the least corrupt?
The table below outlines the 20 top performing countries in the CPI, their score and rank, and whether their score has improved, declined, or remained unchanged compared to 2021.
| Country | Score | Rank | Score change |
| Denmark | 90 | 1 | Increased |
| Finland | 87 | 2 | Decreased |
| New Zealand | 87 | 2 | Decreased |
| Norway | 84 | 4 | Decreased |
| Singapore | 83 | 5 | Decreased |
| Sweden | 83 | 5 | Decreased |
| Switzerland | 82 | 7 | Decreased |
| Netherlands | 80 | 8 | Decreased |
| Germany | 79 | 9 | Decreased |
| Ireland | 77 | 10 | Increased |
| Luxembourg | 77 | 10 | Decreased |
| Hong Kong | 76 | 12 | Unchanged |
| Australia | 75 | 13 | Increased |
| Canada | 74 | 14 | Unchanged |
| Estonia | 74 | 14 | Unchanged |
| Iceland | 74 | 14 | Unchanged |
| Uruguay | 74 | 14 | Increased |
| Belgium | 73 | 18 | Unchanged |
| Japan | 73 | 18 | Unchanged |
| United Kingdom | 73 | 18 | Decreased |
Which countries were perceived as the most corrupt?
The table below outlines the 20 countries with the lowest CPI scores and rankings.
| Country | Score | Rank | Score change |
| Somalia | 12 | 180 | Decreased |
| Syria | 13 | 178 | Unchanged |
| South Sudan | 13 | 178 | Increased |
| Venezuela | 14 | 177 | Unchanged |
| Yemen | 16 | 176 | Unchanged |
| Libya | 17 | 171 | Unchanged |
| North Korea | 17 | 171 | Increased |
| Haiti | 17 | 171 | Decreased |
| Equatorial Guinea | 17 | 171 | Unchanged |
| Burundi | 17 | 171 | Decreased |
| Turkmenistan | 19 | 167 | Unchanged |
| Nicaragua | 19 | 167 | Decreased |
| Comoros | 19 | 167 | Decreased |
| Chad | 19 | 167 | Decreased |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 20 | 166 | Increased |
| Guinea-Bissau | 21 | 164 | Unchanged |
| Congo | 21 | 164 | Unchanged |
| Sudan | 22 | 162 | Increased |
| Eritrea | 22 | 162 | Unchanged |
| Zimbabwe | 23 | 157 | Unchanged |
Key takeaways
While Australia has improved its CPI score in 2022, the scores of most countries have remained unchanged or have declined since 2021. Key trends throughout 2022 that have led to the continued perpetration of corruption include the harbouring of corrupt assets, tolerating enablers, and perpetuating impunity.
