Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (T.I.’s CPI) serves as a stark wake-up call for the global business community. With the global average score reaching a decade-low of 42/100, the data reveals that even historically stable markets are experiencing steady erosion in corruption integrity. This year’s results are defined by unprecedented volatility, where some countries are seeing their scores fluctuate rapidly over short periods.
Why This Matters for 2026
For risk and compliance professionals, these results confirm that traditional, static models of geographic risk are no longer sufficient. In a landscape where “safe” markets can deteriorate quickly, this is a clear sign that firms must transition toward more dynamic, data-driven monitoring. Relying on legacy reputations can create dangerous blind spots in your compliance framework.
Navigating the Data
The following dashboard translates these high-level global trends into clear and relatable insights. By analyzing the 2025 scoring through a forensic lens, we can identify specific emerging risks and discuss how to evolve your compliance strategies to meet the challenges of 2026 and beyond.
Before continuing to the main takeaways from the recent data, enter your company's — any company's — name. AI identifies their countries of operation and maps each one against CPI 2025 corruption risk data.
Now for the broader story. Below is the full CPI 2025 landscape — where every country sits, how the world is shifting, and what it means for anyone managing risk across borders.
Hover over any bar to see details of which countries scored at that CPI score range
According to Transparency International, there is a concerning picture of declining leadership when it comes to taking an anti-corruption stance. Established democracies and their corruption leadership are being challenged, with countries like the US, UK, and New Zealand experiencing a long-term drop in CPI score performance.
Transparency International points to how a lack of strong leadership is leading to weaker standards and enforcement, lowering ambition on anti-corruption efforts around the world. At the same time, T.I. notes that many states are increasing restrictions on civic spaces, making it harder to challenge abuses of power, and are therefore reducing transparency and accountability.
What’s driving the decline: TI documents how political donations have been exchanged for honours and favours, and MPs have acted as lobbyists for paying clients. Enforcement gaps persist despite strong legal frameworks.
Compliance impact: The UK remains a major hub for international finance and corporate headquarters. A 12-point decline from "low risk" toward "moderate risk" territory should trigger enhanced due diligence thresholds for UK-based counterparties.
Trajectory: Six consecutive years of decline or stagnation since 2017 peak.
What’s driving the decline: TI’s Americas report highlights the targeting of independent voices, the undermining of judicial independence, and a temporary freeze and weakening of FCPA enforcement — the statute that set the global benchmark for anti-corruption.
Compliance impact: FCPA enforcement has been the cornerstone of global anti-bribery compliance for over a decade. Weakened enforcement signals may embolden corrupt actors and reduce the deterrent effect across multinational operations.
Trajectory: Steady decline from 76 to 64 over a decade. Lowest score ever recorded for the US.
What’s driving the decline: Enforcement has failed to keep pace with anti-corruption standards. Growing risks of collusion between public officials and private interests, with the gap between legislative and enforcement reality widening.
Compliance impact: France is the EU’s second-largest economy. A sharp drop in just two years is one of the fastest declines among Western democracies, demanding urgent re-evaluation of risk ratings.
Trajectory: Sharp recent acceleration. Down 5 points in just 2023–2025 alone.
What’s driving the decline: Spain has experienced its largest anti-corruption protests in years. National anti-corruption plans have been launched but require far more ambitious implementation to reverse the decade-long decline.
Compliance impact: At 55, Spain is now firmly in the "moderate risk" band — territory more commonly associated with developing markets.
Trajectory: Sustained decline over 13 years. Down 5 points in 2023–2025.
What’s driving the decline: Insufficient resourcing of investigative and prosecutorial functions. A lack of action on anti-corruption legislation has eroded the institutional safeguards that once made NZ the world’s top-ranked country.
Compliance impact: NZ and Australia are converging with the Asia Pacific regional average rather than leading it.
Trajectory: Fell from 1st to 4th globally. Down 10 points from peak — steady year-on-year erosion.
What’s driving the decline: Australia needs stronger whistleblower protections, a dedicated whistleblower protection authority, stricter regulations around lobbying, and strengthening of its National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Compliance impact: Like NZ, Australia is converging toward the AP regional average. Its decline from 85 to 76 means it has left the "very clean" tier and now sits alongside Estonia and Canada.
Trajectory: Down to 12th globally from a former top-5 position. Marginal stabilisation in recent years but no recovery.
What’s driving the decline: The ruling party has used transparency claims to justify shutting down critical NGOs and media. TI notes that Hungary has dismantled democratic protections.
Compliance impact: At 40, Hungary scores lower than many non-EU countries. EU membership creates a perception of institutional safety that its CPI score no longer supports.
Trajectory: 13-year decline. The largest drop of any EU member state.
What’s driving the decline: Significant democratic erosion driven by political interference in the judiciary and weakened institutional independence. Despite recent changes in government, the structural damage from years of rule-of-law backsliding has not been reversed.
Compliance impact: Poland is the EU’s 5th-largest economy. A 10-point decline places it at levels comparable to countries with far weaker institutional frameworks.
Trajectory: Steady annual decline from 2015 peak. Stabilised at 53–54 but no recovery trajectory established.
Search and filter by country name to explore CPI 2025 scores, rankings, and trends across all 182 countries and territories.
Across the last three iterations of the CPI score, it’s clear that the world’s reaction to corruption is shifting quickly. Looking at the chart below, you can see the larger the bubble, the greater that country’s movement in CPI score, either rise or fall. Some of the swings in CPI score have been dramatic for a short timeframe.
For example, a company that assessed risk in 2024 using 2023 CPI scores data would have rated France at 71 and Oman at 43 but now would be rating France as 66 (-5) and Oman as 52 (+9). Risk tiers built on annual snapshots cannot capture this pace of change.
As the 2025 CPI data demonstrates, traditional risk models — which often rely on annual manual refreshes — are no longer sufficient to capture the speed of global corruption shifts. To close the gap between current risk and outdated ratings, compliance programs must transition to an AI and analytics-led approach.
Below are some suggestions for how AI and analytics can work together to reinvent your approach to risk:
Adverse Media Screening: Use NLP to scan thousands of global news sources in real-time. Unlike basic keyword searches, AI can understand sentiment and context, distinguishing between a “legal dispute” and a “corruption allegation” to prioritize high-risk flags immediately.
Perpetual KYC (pKYC): Move from “periodic” reviews to a trigger-based model. When a country’s CPI score or a specific region’s regulatory environment shifts rapidly, AI tools can automatically trigger a re-assessment of all counterparties in that jurisdiction.
Trend Modeling: By feeding historical CPI trajectories and macro-economic data into machine learning models, organizations can identify “at-risk” jurisdictions before the next annual report is released.
Dynamic Risk Scoring: Replace static “Low/Medium/High” buckets with a weighted, multi-factor risk score. This score should automatically ingest the CPI “Velocity” (rate of change) as a primary variable, ensuring that a 5-point drop in two years carries more weight than a stable low score.
Uncovering Hidden Ties: Use graph database technology to map relationships between PEPs, private interests, and corporate entities. This uncovers “circular” ownership or proximity to state-owned enterprises that traditional linear screening misses.
Network Effect Analysis: Analytics can identify clusters of high-risk activity. If multiple suppliers in a specific region begin showing “velocity” in their risk profiles, the system can flag a regional risk rather than treating each case in isolation.
Audit-Ready Reasoning: Advanced AI tools now provide explainable AI, where AI can provide an audit trail to its thinking. Instead of a black-box “Risk Score: 85”, the system provides a clear data trail: “Score driven by 12% CPI decline in region and 3 recent adverse media hits regarding procurement fraud.”
The data shows corruption risk is not static. Your compliance program shouldn't be either. Explore how AI and other powerful analytic tools can keep pace with global shifts.
Disclaimer: All corruption data referenced on this site is sourced from Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2025. This website is an independent analysis and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Transparency International in any way.