Transparency International* published the annual "Corruption Perceptions Index," in which Russia was ranked 154th out of 180, scoring 22 points out of a possible 100. Last year, Russia was in 141st place, sharing it with Guinea. This time, Russia shared the 154th place with Honduras, Lebanon, and Azerbaijan, scoring fewer points than Iran and Congo, marking the worst result for Russia in the history of the index.
Ukraine took 105th place, scoring 35 points and worsening last year's result by 1 point. Belarus is in 114th place with 33 points. The best result among CIS countries is Kazakhstan's — 88th place with 40 points.
As noted by "Transparency International — Russia," the full-scale invasion of Ukraine accelerated the degradation of institutions that should ensure transparency and accountability of power. Russia consistently suppresses independent media and NGOs, restricts access to information about budget expenditures and government procurement. "State resources are directed towards military needs without the possibility of civilian oversight. The secrecy of military contracts, multi-billion-dollar purchases on non-competitive terms, enrichment schemes for 'favored' contractors — all this makes the war a powerful driver of corruption. The authorities use conflicts as a pretext for further restricting transparency and civil liberties, ensuring full control over resources," the report states.
The "Corruption Perceptions Index" ranks 180 countries and territories by the level of corruption in the public sector, based on the opinions of experts and businesspeople. It is based on 13 independent data sources and uses a scale from zero to one hundred, where zero indicates a high level of corruption, and 100 indicates the lowest.
The index highlights the stark contrast between countries with strong, independent institutions and free, fair elections and countries with repressive authoritarian regimes. In full democracies, the average score is 73 points, while in flawed democracies it is 47, and in non-democratic regimes, it is only 33.
Denmark tops the ranking for the seventh year in a row, scoring 90 points. Finland and Singapore take second and third places, scoring 88 and 84 points respectively. The top ten also include New Zealand, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia, Iceland, and Ireland.
The last three places are occupied by South Sudan (8), Somalia (9), and Venezuela (10). Syria, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Yemen, Nicaragua, Sudan, and North Korea also scored 15 points or less.
Since 2012, 32 countries have significantly improved their index scores and are now considered less corrupt, including Moldova (43), Kuwait (46), and Uruguay (76).
47 countries have significantly lowered their scores. Among the countries that have lost their positions are both democratic states with high scores, such as the USA (65) and New Zealand (83), as well as autocratic states, for example, Russia (22) and Eswatini (27).
* Recognized as an "undesirable" organization in Russia.