Islamabad — Transparency International has unveiled its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2025, showing a modest improvement in Pakistan’s global standing, though perceptions of corruption remain deep-seated worldwide.
According to the CPI 2025 report, Pakistan is ranked 136th out of 182 countries, moving up one position compared to the previous year’s survey. The country’s overall score also climbed from 27 to 28 on a scale where 0 indicates high corruption and 100 represents a very clean public sector.
The CPI assesses how corruption in the public sector is perceived by businesspeople and experts around the world. Its latest global dataset shows that corruption is a worsening problem in many regions, even in established democracies, with the global average score dropping to 42 — its lowest in over a decade.
Justice (Retd) Zia Perwez, Chair of Transparency International Pakistan, said that although Pakistan has made commendable progress in governance and institutional reforms, the country must fully implement the recommendations of the IMF Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment to maintain upward momentum in future indexes.
The CPI’s 2025 rankings include countries across the governance spectrum: Denmark leads the list with the highest score, while nations like Somalia and South Sudan are among those with the lowest scores — highlighting ongoing global challenges in fighting corruption.
Transparency International also noted that restrictions on civic freedoms such as expression and assembly correlate strongly with deteriorating corruption control, urging governments worldwide to strengthen transparency, independent oversight, and protections for media and civil society.