Data for 1998

Political Corruption Index, 1998

Name: Political Corruption Index, 1998
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1998, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Political Corruption Index, 1998 covers 172 countries. Somalia is highest, at 0.958; Denmark is lowest, at 0.002. The middle country reads 0.573. Against 1997, 38 values changed (18 up, 20 down), 1 country joined.

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Political Corruption Index · Data for 1998

HighestSomalia

0.958

LowestDenmark

0.002

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the lowest end.

172countries
1measure
1998the year it describes
157distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Political Corruption Index, 1998, as published. V-Dem Institute ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 172 countries · select a heading to sort

Political Corruption Index, 1998: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.958
2	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.957
3	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.953
4	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.939
5	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.930
6	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.923
7	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.917
8	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.905
9	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.901
10	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.893
11	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.889
12	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.888
13	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.884
14	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.882
15	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.881
16	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.879
17	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.878
=18	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.872
=18	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.872
20	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.869
21	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.862
22	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.861
23	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.860
=24	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.853
=24	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.853
26	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.849
27	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.846
28	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.845
29	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.840
30	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.839
31	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.834
=32	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.831
=32	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.831
=34	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.826
=34	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.826
36	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.824
=37	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.819
=37	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.819
39	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.815
40	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.812
=41	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.805
=41	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.805
43	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.796
44	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.795
45	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.792
46	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.790
47	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.787
48	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.783
=49	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.779
=49	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.779
51	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.774
52	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.768
53	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.762
54	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.756
55	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.752
56	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.750
57	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.746
58	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.736
59	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.726
60	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.719
61	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.718
62	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.717
63	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.713
64	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.709
65	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.705
=66	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.704
=66	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.704
68	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.698
69	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.696
70	Peru`PER`South America	0.680
71	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.661
=72	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.640
=72	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.640
=72	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.640
75	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.629
76	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.622
77	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.619
78	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.616
79	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.612
80	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.611
81	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.592
82	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.583
83	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.582
84	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.576
85	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.575
86	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.574
87	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.573
88	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.568
89	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.561
90	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.557
=91	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.551
=91	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.551
93	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.545
94	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.540
95	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.516
96	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.512
=97	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.506
=97	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.506
99	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.500
100	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.488
101	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.483
102	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.479
103	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.470
104	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.468
105	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.465
106	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.464
107	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.441
108	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.438
109	Colombia`COL`South America	0.434
110	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.432
111	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.425
112	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.414
113	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.406
114	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.398
115	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.395
116	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.380
117	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.374
118	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.372
119	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.340
=120	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.330
=120	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.330
122	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.326
123	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.309
124	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.277
125	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.262
126	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.257
127	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.255
128	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.253
=129	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.245
=129	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.245
131	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.237
132	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.200
133	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.199
134	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.192
135	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.190
136	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.184
137	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.176
138	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.173
139	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.169
140	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.159
141	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.148
142	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.138
143	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.135
144	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.127
145	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.117
146	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.108
147	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.091
148	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.088
149	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.084
150	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.065
151	Chile`CHL`South America	0.061
152	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.060
153	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.059
154	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.058
155	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.057
156	United States`USA`Northern America	0.055
157	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.041
158	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.038
=159	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.035
=159	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.035
161	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.032
162	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.031
163	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.023
164	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.018
165	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.015
166	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.013
167	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.011
168	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.010
169	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.009
170	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.006
171	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.004
172	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.002

02In 1998

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Somalia0.958
2Chad0.957
3Azerbaijan0.953
4DR Congo0.939
5Liberia0.930

Lowest

172Denmark0.002
171Sweden0.004
170Norway0.006
169New Zealand0.009
168Singapore0.010

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 0.573. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031997 → 1998

Since 1997

What changed between 1997 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
38values changed, of 171 in both
18 · 20rose · fell
133unchanged

Rose most

Lesotho0.459 → 0.592+0.133
Armenia0.688 → 0.790+0.102
Ukraine0.801 → 0.879+0.078
Sierra Leone0.692 → 0.762+0.070
Zimbabwe0.524 → 0.583+0.059

Fell most

Indonesia0.940 → 0.846−0.094
Slovakia0.380 → 0.330−0.050
Guyana0.555 → 0.512−0.043
South Korea0.290 → 0.257−0.033
Morocco0.786 → 0.768−0.018

+ Montenegro

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1998.
157 distinct values among 172
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.640. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
V-Dem Institute publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 172 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
172 rows · 4.6 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download political-corruption-1998-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
V-Dem Institute’s own file, on its own site.
V-Dem-CY-Core-v16_csv.zip

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (1998). Political Corruption Index, 1998 [data set], describing 1998. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/political-corruption/1998

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Political Corruption Index, 1997
171 countries
The year after ›
Political Corruption Index, 1999
173 countries
All of them
Political Corruption Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions