The 2025 “Corruption Map”, based on the Corruption Perceptions Index, contrasts “clean” states with countries where corruption remains a serious problem.
Corruption continues to be a problem in more and more countries, and the number of states considered truly “clean” decreases from year to year, shows the latest “corruption map”, outlined on the basis of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), published by Transparency International and obtained from evaluations and surveys carried out by several independent institutions and experts.
Specifically, the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) measures how the level of corruption in state institutions is perceived in different countries of the world, on a scale from 0 to 100. Higher scores indicate “clean” countries, while lower scores indicate higher levels of corruption.
In the 2025 report compiled on the basis of the CPI, the global average reached 42 points, and most of the analyzed countries are below the threshold of 50, which shows that the problem of corruption seems to be more extensive in many regions of the world.
At the top of the ranking of “clean” countries, Denmark ranks first, with 89 points, followed by Finland, with 88 points, and Singapore, with 84 points, all three being examples of administrations considered efficient and relatively free from direct political influences on public decisions.
At the opposite end are countries where corruption is perceived to be very high and state institutions are weak or affected by conflict. Somalia has the lowest score, 9 points, followed by states such as South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, Libya and North Korea, where structural problems, political instability or authoritarian regimes strongly influence the functioning of the administration, notes visualcapitalist.
Fewer states in the top zone
The report also shows an important change in recent years, in that the number of states with very high scores has decreased. If about a decade ago there were 12 countries with more than 80 points, today only five remain, which shows that even some states with a tradition of efficient administration face political and social pressures that affect trust in institutions.
One example is the United States, which scored 64 points and ranks 29th in the ranking, which is the worst result recorded since the introduction of the current methodology of the index.
Romania, better than neighboring countries, but far from the top
Romania obtained 45 points in the year 2025, which places it in the second half of the ranking, in an area where there are states with persistent problems related to corruption, positioning itself around the 70-80 places worldwide, which keeps it far from the average of the states in Western Europe.
Compared to countries in the region, Romania has, however, a slightly better score than the Republic of Moldova, which obtained 42 points, Bulgaria and Hungary, both with 40 points, and Ukraine, which recorded only 36 points.
The differences are not great and show that the area of Eastern Europe remains one where corruption is still a problem.
Seen in relation to the states at the top of the ranking, the distance remains significant, given that countries such as Denmark or Finland have almost double Romania’s score, which reflects important differences in the functioning of the institutions and the level of trust of the population.
