Report: Weakening Justice Systems Allow Corruption to Thrive Globally

Today, Transparency International (TI) released the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The 22nd edition of the organization’s assessment of global corruption “analyses how injustice and corruption impact each other around the world.” 

The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by perceived levels of public sector corruption using data from 13 external sources and grants each country a score out of 100. Denmark retained the top spot on the Index for the sixth consecutive, year with a score of 90; Somalia (11), Venezuela (13), Syria (13), and South Sudan (13) occupy the bottom end of the Index. But some high-ranking democracies — such as Iceland (72), the Netherlands (79), Sweden (82), and the United Kingdom (71) — fell to historic low scores this year.

This year’s accompanying report examines the strong connection between corruption and the global decline in the functioning of justice systems since 2016 — noting that countries with the lowest CPI scores also have low scores on the Rule of Law Index. But the report also notes that both authoritarian regimes and democratic leaders undermine justice, for instance by failing to sanction public officials for flouting existing rules — contributing to increasing impunity.

Most countries have made little to no progress in fighting corruption in the public sector, the report notes. The Index’s global average remains unchanged at 43 for the 12th year in a row, with more than two-thirds of countries scoring below 50 — pointing to serious corruption problems worldwide.

Read the full report here.

Image: Screenshot, 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index report