The countries with the lowest levels of corruption are held up as pinnacles of good governance. But no nation is immune to dishonest dealings, as revealed by Transparency International's 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, assigning each a score between zero (highly corrupt) and 100 (very clean).

Worryingly, a number of countries – including major economies like America, Germany and France – have tumbled down the rankings in the latest edition. Read on to discover the top scorers according to Transparency International (TI) and find out why even ‘clean’ nations can still struggle with corruption. 

All dollar amounts in US dollars

Lowest in our selection of countries is Israel, scoring 64 points out of a possible 100. That’s a couple of points up on its score in 2023 and five more than it managed in 2021, so it’s been making steady (though admittedly rather slow) progress in recent years. Israel didn’t make the top 30 in 2023’s CPI. 

The country’s determination to tackle corruption is exemplified by its willingness to investigate even high-profile allegations such as those levelled at its longest-serving prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured), who’s standing trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He strongly denies all the charges against him.

Slipping from joint 24th to joint 28th place, the United States scores four points fewer than in 2023. Transparency International has praised the US judiciary for its independence and integrity, noting how cases went ahead against Donald Trump as well as former president Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden. In addition, the US government has bolstered corruption protections with a new bribery law.

The negatives, however, include weak ethics rules for the US Supreme Court, with the corruption allegations surrounding Judge Clarence Thomas standing testament to this.

In 2023, corruption scandals involving two high-profile politicians – Senator Robert Menendez and Congressman George Santos – further sullied America's reputation. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Eric Adams has pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges.

The Bahamas also notches up 65 points, but in its case, this is enough to move it up the rankings a little from 30th to equal 28th place. Nevertheless, corruption is still a significant problem for the Caribbean nation.

Safeguards are inadequate at present, and the country's lawmakers are dragging their feet when it comes to rolling out proposed anti-graft measures. The government's perceived 'cosy relationship' with crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried (pictured) has dealt a damaging blow to its reputation.

One of Asia's least corrupt countries, Taiwan is considerably more open and transparent than the neighbouring People's Republic of China, which lays claims to the island nation as part of its territory. Its score of 67 points is the same as in Transparency International’s 2023 CPI, though it moves up the rankings from 28th to equal 25th place. 

Transparency International classes Taiwan as a ‘complete democracy’ in which people can freely express their opinions and journalists report without hindrance. Still, political corruption remains an issue, coming to the fore in September 2024 when investigators detained former presidential candidate Ko Wen-je. Another area of concern is the procurement of defence contracts, which is often shrouded in secrecy and, Transparency International warns, particularly prone to corruption.

In 2023’s CPI, France stood in joint 20th place. This year, it’s fallen to joint 25th and its score is four points lower. Despite its strong democratic institutions, its good name has taken a hit in recent years due to a series of headline-grabbing scandals involving high-ranking politicians, including former President Nicolas Sarkozy (pictured).

According to Transparency International, France has some effective processes for tackling corruption but doesn’t always fully implement them. A more proactive approach could yield better results, it says. The group’s Paris bureau adds that the lack of a comprehensive public anti-corruption policy is a concern. 

Sharing equal 25th place with France and Taiwan is Austria, whose score has coincidentally also fallen four points since 2023 to its lowest-ever level. 

The downward trend of recent years is linked to nepotism and a series of political scandals such as 2019's 'Ibiza-gate' when a video was released showing former vice-chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache talking to a woman purporting to be the niece of a Russian oligarch during a 2017 meeting in Ibiza.

In February 2024, former chancellor Sebastian Kurz was found guilty of perjury after lying to a parliamentary inquiry into alleged corruption in his first government. 

In 2023’s CPI, the UAE’s 68 points only garnered it an equal 26th place. In the latest index, the same score gets it to equal 23rd place. Corruption is deeply entrenched in the Middle East, although the United Arab Emirates shines as a beacon of relative propriety in the region, being its highest-scoring country.

That said, it still lacks effective anti-corruption mechanisms and senior members of the ruling family act with "impunity", according to the Global Organized Crime Index. Money laundering and other financial crimes are particular areas of concern, and while the Emirates have intensified their efforts to tackle them, Transparency International says they still have much work to do. It adds that corrupt officials and criminals hold significant property portfolios in Dubai. 

Barbados drops one point and one place to join the UAE in equal 23rd, but it’s still the least corrupt Caribbean nation and one of the top scorers in the Americas as a whole. TI describes it as a relatively stable democracy with a high level of transparency and participation. In 2023, the island nation passed an Integrity in Public Life Bill which requires officials to disclose financial interests on a public register or risk being disqualified from office for 10 years. 

Even so, corruption remains a serious problem in the country. In fact, while Barbados's current score of 68 is region-leading, it was much higher back in 2012, at 76.

Belgium’s score has declined significantly in the last five years and at 69, it’s four points down on 2023, with the country notching up 22nd place in the rankings. Public life in the country is generally open and transparent but, as The Brussels Times has noted, "the shadow of corruption has fallen on Belgian politics time and again".

The most prominent example of recent years is the 'Qatargate' scandal, centred on allegations that Qatari officials have bribed EU politicians to influence European Parliament decisions. 

At 71 points, the UK’s score is the same as it was in 2023, but it’s declined markedly in recent years; back in 2017 it was a whole 11 points higher. Although it’s still in the top 20 least corrupt nations, it was once a regular visitor to the top 10. 

To explain the fall from grace, Transparency International has cited, among other things, unease around the funding of Britain’s major political parties and the investigation into whether former prime minister Boris Johnson misled parliament over breaking COVID-19 lockdown rules. 

On the plus side, the UK has now appointed Baroness Margaret Hodge as its new anti-corruption champion after leaving the post vacant for over two years. It’s also announced significant additional funding for its National Crime Agency’s International Corruption Unit. 

Japan also makes equal 20th place, down from equal 16th. Its score has fallen by two points since the 2023 index. 

This is unsurprising when you consider that in 2023, Japan went through a major corruption scandal. A faction within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was accused of pocketing cash from fundraising events and several cabinet members resigned as a result. It ultimately contributed to the downfall of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who’s since been replaced by Shigeru Ishiba (pictured). However, the LDP vote shrank in elections last year as voters punished it for the scandal. 

The Seychelles is on a roll. Its scores have risen dramatically over the last decade and it's up by one point to 72 in the latest index. The country’s ranking also improves, from joint 20th to joint 18th.  

The Seychelles is now Africa's least corrupt country, as well as being the smallest and least populous. Much is being done to eliminate impropriety in public life through the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles (ACCS) and other bodies.

However, corruption still remains problematic, as two current ACCS cases show. One relates to $50 million (£40m) in aid money that went missing, a scandal involving the former First Lady, while the other pertains to the mismanagement of loans at the Seychelles Business Finance Agency (SBFA).

Another country making solid progress in the latest CPI is Bhutan, which improves its score from 68 to 72 and moves up the rankings significantly from joint 26th to joint 18th place. It’s the least corrupt country in South Asia. 

Famous for its pursuit of ‘Gross National Happiness’ as opposed to economic wellbeing alone, the Himalayan kingdom bases its anti-corruption efforts on interventions like integrity vetting, lifestyle audits of public servants and strengthening regulatory agencies. It has a robust anti-graft commission, and the government has won plaudits for its transparency.

However, it still falls short when it comes to customs, with bribery relating to cross-border trade prevalent. The public procurement process isn't beyond reproach either since the awarding of contracts can sometimes involve bribery and favouritism.

Hong Kong's score has decreased by one point in the latest CPI and its ranking slips from joint 14th place to the 17th least corrupt. 

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Hong Kong's dedicated anti-graft agency, relentlessly pursues wrongdoers for even comparatively minor corruption offences, which goes a long way towards explaining its relatively high ranking. However, the special administrative region of China is still far from corruption-free, and the deduction of a point shows that more needs to be done to clean up the territory.

Germany is among the big hitters that have seen their anti-corruption efforts suffer in the most recent index. It crashes out of the top 10 to take joint 15th place with a reduced score of 75 points – three points fewer than in 2023. Transparency International says a lack of transparency in financing political parties was the main problem.

A representative of the organisation's German bureau specifically referenced a million-euro ($1m/£800k) donation to the populist right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party from an Austrian sympathiser. She said such actions jeopardise fair political competition and undermine citizens’ trust in democracy, according to a report by state-owned international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle. 

Also on the slide is Canada, which was joint 12th in 2023 but now only makes joint 15th with a one-point reduction to 75 points. This is its lowest-ever ranking in the CPI’s 30-year history. The country scored as high as 84 back in 2012 and featured in the top 10 until 2019.

Ironically, Canada’s reputation as a stable democracy where the rule of law is paramount has helped make it a magnet for criminals to launder and invest their ill-gotten gains for safekeeping, according to Transparency International. The group says the Canadian equivalent of up to $79.5 billion (£63.1bn) is laundered in Canada each year. 

Canada was the highest-ranked country in all the Americas last year, but that accolade now goes to Uruguay, with its score of 76 points bringing it to joint 13th place. Uruguay is known as ‘the Switzerland of South America’ and it’s an anti-corruption trailblazer; the continent's next-highest scorer is Chile in 32nd place. 

One of its strengths is robust institutions. It boasts a stable democracy and effective means for citizen participation and has also implemented policies to encourage access to public information and data. However, none of this prevented a whirlwind of government corruption scandals under the outgoing president, Luis Lacalle Pou. In March, he’ll be replaced by Yamandú Orsi (pictured). 

Joining Uruguay to share the 13th place is Estonia. The tiny Baltic state also scored 76 points, as it did in 2023. Back then, though, the same score bought it a joint 12th ranking.  

It’s still Eastern Europe's least corrupt country by a wide margin, although several scandals have beset the nation in recent years. In January 2021, for example, the government collapsed and Prime Minister Jüri Ratas resigned after the launch of a property-related corruption investigation into one of Estonia's coalition parties.

In equal 10th place with a score of 77 is Ireland. The nation achieved the same score in 2023 but stood in ninth place in the rankings. The Emerald Isle has strong anti-corruption measures in place but, like some other countries such as Canada, it has issues with money laundering. Transparency International has called for more clarity when it comes to property and business ownership.

Accessing Ireland's beneficial ownership registers is hampered by a "very complicated system", which only serves to help the criminals who want to stash away their spoils in the country.

There are two other countries sharing 10th place with Ireland. One of them is Iceland, which has climbed from 19th place while its score has jumped five points to reach its current position. 

In achieving this, Iceland has recovered from its worst-ever score in the index at 72, which was attributed to factors including the infamous 'Fishrot' corruption scandal. This saw prominent Namibian businessmen and politicians accused of controlling valuable fishing quotas and diverting them to an Icelandic fishing company for cash. 

The lack of transparency that has characterised bank privatisations in the country also took some of the blame, as did a series of bribery cases over the course of the past few years.

The last country in the joint 10th place trio is Australia. It’s jumped from joint 14th and its score has increased by two points since 2023’s CPI.  

Transparency International says Australia is turning the corner in the fight against corruption, but warns that a risk to the country’s democracy remains. It singled out paid lobbyists influencing MPs, the silencing of whistleblowers and the so-called ‘Dark Money’ scandal which has seen some AUS$70 million ($44.5m/£35.3m) in unreported donations flowing to major political parties. The government of Anthony Albanese is trying to tighten up the rules around party finances. 

The Netherlands's score has dipped by one point in the 2024 edition of the CPI. This marks a record low for the country, whose score peaked when it received 84 points back in 2015. Its ranking has slipped from eighth to ninth least corrupt. 

The country's falling score is a cause for concern, according to Transparency International. It ascribes the decline to several factors, including the increasing influence of organised crime, the weakening of checks and balances, and a lack of transparency in lobbying.

From joint sixth place with 82 points to eighth with just 80, Sweden is another country whose top-rated credentials are in need of re-polishing. While the country's anti-corruption measures remain impressive by global standards, it's worth noting that its score has fallen by nine points since 2015.

Cronyism, shortcomings in public procurement, and growth in organised crime are among the factors some observers have identified for the fall. Transparency International itself has cited issues in the country's judicial system, particularly flagging the appointment of judges, who are chosen by the government rather than by an independent body, as an example. 

By contrast, Switzerland climbs a place from joint sixth to joint fifth, though its score is actually one point lower than it was in 2023. Its score was considerably cleaner, at 86, back in 2016. The affluent nation's strict banking secrecy has come under much criticism from anti-corruption campaigners and is seen by many as facilitating large-scale money laundering and other financial crimes.

On a more positive note, the Swiss government has put forward a raft of anti-money laundering measures, including the introduction of a beneficial owners register. Whether these new regulations will be sufficient remains to be seen.

Norway's score has dropped by three points since 2023 and the nation has slipped from fourth to joint fifth place as a result. Its score was 85 in 2021 and an impressive 88 in 2015.

Over the past few years, the wealthy country has been rocked by a wave of political conflict of interest scandals. Several ministers accused of wrongdoing have resigned, which has chipped away at public trust in the political system.

Tiny Luxembourg scores an extra three points this year and climbs the rankings from joint ninth to joint fifth place. It’s an impressive feat, though its score has fallen from a peak of 85 since 2015. 

Over the past year or so, the grand duchy has beefed up its whistleblower protections and buttressed its other anti-corruption initiatives. As a result, it's been taken off a corruption watchlist overseen by the Council of Europe’s States against Corruption (GRECO).

All the same, Luxembourg could still do a lot more to improve transparency, with the government attracting EU criticism for its failure to provide access to official documents and the parliamentary register.

Few nations would be unhappy with taking the fourth spot in a list like this, but New Zealand did even better in 2023, achieving third place and a score of 85. This continues the downward trend that has been seen since 2021 when it scored a heady 88 points. 

According to Transparency International, the nation's halo is being tarnished by a lack of confidence from the business community when it comes to the integrity of public contracting, taxation and trade opportunities.

We’re now into the final three with Singapore, which scores an impressive 84 points and, having climbed from the fifth spot last year, shows solid progress. The city-state is Asia's least corrupt country, and its government is known for its zero-tolerance approach and squeaky-clean image.

However, not even Singapore is perfect, and in 2024, it experienced a rare ministerial corruption scandal when former Transport Minister Subramaniam Iswaran (pictured left) was found guilty and jailed for receiving gifts worth some $300,000 (£238k) while in office. He’s since been allowed to serve some of his sentence under house arrest.  

Our top two countries remain unchanged from 2023. In second place with 88 points, one more than it achieved in the 2023 index, is Finland. 

Its Ministry of Justice has reinforced the country's already extensive anti-graft efforts with the launch of its first anti-corruption strategy. But while incidences of corruption are generally very low in the country, dubious dealings still occur, particularly in relation to structural corruption using unofficial social networks and the misuse of insider information, according to the Global Organized Crime Index.

And the winner, for the seventh year in a row, is Denmark.

The nation scores a highly impressive 90 points, as it did in 2023. The Scandinavian country may be the world's least corrupt and should be feted for its integrity, but that doesn't mean it’s entirely free from graft. 

In March 2023, the OECD Working Group on Bribery called for it to urgently step up its efforts to fight foreign bribery, which the group deemed woefully insufficient. Whether change will happen or not remains to be seen. However, the director of Denmark’s branch of Transparency International perhaps identified a key factor in staying clean, namely the public’s attitude to graft: “Danes can recognise this in their daily lives”, he said, in comments reported by Danish website The Local; “If you are better at finding structural problems and speaking about them, you’ll also discover issues, and then you come across differently.”

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