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Curated list · 2026

Least corrupt countries in the world

Ranked by Corruption Perceptions Index (higher = cleaner), least corrupt first.

This ranking uses Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which scores public-sector corruption from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) based on expert and business surveys. Denmark, Finland, Singapore, New Zealand and Norway consistently sit at the top. For a nomad or entrepreneur, a high CPI score is a proxy for predictable bureaucracy, reliable contracts and low bribery risk when dealing with officials.

#	Country	CPI (/100)
1	New Zealand	88
2	Denmark	88
3	Singapore	85
4	Switzerland	85
5	Sweden	85
6	Finland	85
7	Norway	84
8	Netherlands	82
9	Germany	80
10	Luxembourg	80
11	United Kingdom	77
12	Canada	77
13	Australia	77
14	Belgium	76
15	Austria	76
16	Estonia	75
17	Iceland	75
18	Japan	74
19	Ireland	72
20	United Arab Emirates	71
21	Uruguay	71
22	France	69
23	United States	67
24	Chile	67
25	Spain	62
26	Portugal	61
27	Slovenia	60
28	Lithuania	60
29	Israel	60
30	Botswana	60
31	Cyprus	57
32	Costa Rica	57
33	Latvia	57
34	Georgia	56
35	Poland	56
36	Rwanda	54
37	Italy	53
38	Malta	53
39	Mauritius	53
40	Saudi Arabia	53
41	Malaysia	51
42	Greece	50
43	Slovakia	49
44	Armenia	49
45	Jordan	49
46	Belarus	47
47	Croatia	47
48	Montenegro	45
49	Senegal	45
50	Jamaica	44
51	Bulgaria	44
52	Romania	44
53	Hungary	44
54	South Africa	44
55	Tunisia	44
56	Ghana	43
57	Argentina	42
58	Bahrain	42
59	Kuwait	42
60	China	42
61	Benin	41
62	Burkina Faso	40
63	Turkey	40
64	Morocco	40
65	India	40
66	Colombia	39
67	Ecuador	39
68	Brazil	38
69	Kazakhstan	38
70	Peru	38
71	Sri Lanka	38
72	Serbia	38
73	Tanzania	38
74	Ethiopia	38
75	Indonesia	37
76	Thailand	36
77	Vietnam	36
78	Albania	36
79	El Salvador	36
80	Kosovo	36
81	Algeria	36
82	Panama	35
83	Bosnia and Herzegovina	35
84	Mongolia	35
85	Philippines	34
86	Moldova	34
87	Sierra Leone	33
88	Egypt	33
89	Nepal	33
90	Zambia	33
91	Ukraine	33
92	Niger	32
93	Mexico	31
94	Kenya	31
95	Bolivia	31
96	Kyrgyzstan	31
97	Pakistan	31
98	Gabon	30
99	Malawi	30
100	Mali	30
101	Azerbaijan	30
102	Russia	30
103	Mauritania	29
104	Togo	29
105	Guinea	28
106	Liberia	28
107	Myanmar	28
108	Paraguay	28
109	Dominican Republic	28
110	Uganda	27
111	Uzbekistan	26
112	Bangladesh	26
113	Cameroon	25
114	Iran	25
115	Madagascar	25
116	Tajikistan	25
117	Guatemala	25
118	Nigeria	25
119	Lebanon	25
120	Zimbabwe	24
121	Honduras	24
122	Nicaragua	22
123	Chad	21
124	Cambodia	21
125	Iraq	21
126	Afghanistan	19
127	Burundi	19
128	Turkmenistan	19
129	Libya	17
130	Venezuela	15

Source: Corruption Perceptions Index, Transparency International.

Frequently asked questions

Which is the least corrupt country in the world?

Denmark regularly tops the Corruption Perceptions Index, followed closely by Finland, Singapore, New Zealand and Norway. These countries pair strong institutions with transparency and press freedom. The exact order shifts a little each year, but the leading group stays remarkably stable.

What is the Corruption Perceptions Index?

The CPI is an annual index from Transparency International that rates countries on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. Scores run from 0, meaning highly corrupt, to 100, meaning very clean, and draw on multiple expert and business surveys. It measures perception of public-sector corruption, not the total amount of corruption in an economy.

Which country is the most corrupt in the world?

At the bottom of the CPI are countries hit by conflict and state collapse, most often South Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Venezuela in recent editions. Weak institutions, war and lack of accountability drive their very low scores. As with the top, the exact order moves year to year.

How is corruption measured?

Because bribery is hidden, corruption is measured mainly through perception and experience surveys of experts, business people and residents rather than direct counts. The CPI aggregates several such sources into one score per country. Other tools, like the Control of Corruption indicator from the World Bank, use similar survey-based methods.