Tehran- IRAN, Transparency International today on Tuesday, February 10, released its annual report known as the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).
Based on the report, Afghanistan, under Taliban rule, scored only 16 out of 100 points this year, placing 169th among 182 countries surveyed.
In 2024, Afghanistan scored 17 points, ranking 165th out of 180 countries. This downward trend has continued since 2022, when the country scored 24 points and ranked 150th.
In 2025, Afghanistan again remained among the world’s most corrupt countries, slipping one place compared to the previous year.
Link Between Civil Restrictions and Corruption
Transparency International stated that the five countries at the bottom of the index are, respectively, South Sudan, Somalia, Venezuela, Yemen, and Libya.
On the other end of the spectrum, Denmark, Finland, Singapore, New Zealand, and Norway received the highest scores and were ranked as the cleanest countries in terms of corruption perception.
According to the report, countries that restrict civic space often lose control over corruption.
Of the 50 countries that experienced the largest declines in the index, 36 had imposed restrictions on freedoms.
Additionally, more than 90 percent of journalists killed for investigating corruption were in countries with low CPI scores.
Warning Over a Concerning Global Trend
For the first time in more than a decade, the global average CPI score fell to 42 out of 100.
The report shows that 122 out of 182 countries scored below 50, indicating the widespread prevalence of corruption in the public sector.
It also notes a sharp decline in the number of countries scoring above 80, dropping from 12 countries a decade ago to just 5 countries this year.
Situation in Established Democracies
According to the report, a worrying trend of deteriorating perceptions of corruption has also been observed in traditionally high‑scoring democracies, including the United States (64), Canada (75), New Zealand (81), the United Kingdom (70), France (66), and Sweden (80).
Transparency International’s Recommendations
Transparency International has urged world leaders to strengthen the fight against corruption by:
- Reinforcing judicial independence and oversight institutions
- Ensuring transparency in political financing
- Protecting media freedom
- Taking decisive action against cross‑border flows of illicit money
This comes despite earlier statements by Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesperson, who in response to previous Transparency International reports claimed that Afghanistan is a country “free of corruption.”
