Spain has fallen in Transparency International's perception of corruption ranking

Spain has slipped down Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, taking 49th place with a score of 55 out of 100. Last year, the country ranked 46th with 56 points, while in 2023 it scored 60, being in 36th place.

The index is not based on public opinion but on assessments from international sources, including the Bertelsmann Foundation’s Sustainable Governance Index and the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey. The ranking accounts for indicators such as bribery, abuse of power, the independence of institutions, levels of nepotism, and legal protections for journalists, academics and whistleblowers.

With its current score, Spain is perceived as more corrupt than countries such as Grenada, Rwanda, Botswana, Saudi Arabia and Israel, but performs slightly better than Italy, which scored 53 points. Denmark, Finland and Singapore once again top the table, while Venezuela, Somalia and South Sudan remain at the bottom.

The report stresses that Spain is not an isolated case. The rating of most EU countries has also declined: a worrying trend of stagnation in the implementation of anti-corruption standards and gradual erosion of monitoring mechanisms. The global average score stands at 42 points (62 in Europe), one point lower than last year.

Around 100 countries did not change their positions in the ranking, 50 dropped down the chart, and 31 improved compared with 2024.

Transparency International also points to a troubling deterioration in perceived corruption levels in several democratic countries, including the United States (64), Canada (75), New Zealand (81), the United Kingdom (70), France (66) and Sweden (80).

“In an interconnected world, we need both national action and multilateral cooperation to protect the public interest and tackle shared challenges like corruption. At a time when we’re seeing a dangerous disregard for international norms from some states, we need to protect a rules-based global order that is grounded in transparency, accountability to citizens and respect for human rights,” – said François Valérian, the president of Transparency International.