Overview
- Transparency International reports a new decade-low global average score of 42, with more than two-thirds of countries under 50 and only five above 80.
- Denmark tops the index at 89, followed by Finland and Singapore, while South Sudan and Somalia share the bottom at 9.
- The United States records its lowest-ever score of 64 and falls to 29th place, with TI citing attacks on independent voices, politicized justice, and a freeze and weakening of FCPA enforcement as damaging signals.
- Since 2012, 50 countries have significantly declined and 31 have improved, with TI linking major drops to shrinking civic space in 36 of those fallers.
- Regional patterns persist as Sub-Saharan Africa remains the weakest-performing region, even as some states show gains such as Estonia, the Seychelles, South Korea and Ukraine, which rises to 36 while Russia stands at 22.