Data for 2021

Political Corruption Index, 2021

Name: Political Corruption Index, 2021
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2021, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Political Corruption Index, 2021 covers 176 countries. Venezuela is highest, at 0.968; Denmark is lowest, at 0.002. The middle country reads 0.516. Against 2020, 142 values changed (70 up, 72 down), the same countries are covered.

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Political Corruption Index · Data for 2021

HighestVenezuela

0.968

LowestDenmark

0.002

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

176countries
1measure
2021the year it describes
165distinct 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, 2021, 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 176 countries · select a heading to sort

Political Corruption Index, 2021: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.968
2	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.950
3	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.939
4	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.936
5	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.932
6	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.931
7	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.930
8	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.924
9	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.914
10	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.913
11	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.908
12	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.906
13	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.904
14	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.898
15	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.883
16	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.881
17	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.869
18	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.866
19	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.864
20	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.858
21	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.855
22	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.851
23	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.847
24	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.840
25	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.838
26	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.833
27	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.830
28	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.828
29	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.827
=30	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.823
=30	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.823
32	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.818
=33	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.815
=33	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.815
35	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.814
36	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.803
37	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.793
38	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.788
39	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.781
40	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.776
41	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.772
42	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.770
43	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.766
=44	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.763
=44	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.763
46	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.760
47	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.754
48	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.728
49	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.726
50	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.722
51	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.718
52	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.714
53	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.713
54	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.706
55	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.701
56	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.687
=57	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.686
=57	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.686
59	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.683
60	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.681
61	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.672
62	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.669
63	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.666
=64	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.665
=64	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.665
66	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.662
67	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.653
68	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.650
69	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.640
70	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.631
71	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.627
72	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.616
73	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.615
74	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.611
75	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.606
76	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.598
77	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.584
=78	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.575
=78	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.575
80	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.570
81	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.565
82	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.563
83	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.547
84	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.541
85	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.540
86	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.536
87	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.531
88	Peru`PER`South America	0.525
89	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.507
90	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.504
91	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.499
92	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.491
93	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.490
94	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.488
95	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.487
96	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.479
97	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.475
98	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.467
99	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.466
=100	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.464
=100	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.464
102	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.462
103	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.449
104	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.448
105	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.443
106	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.421
107	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.418
108	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.405
109	Colombia`COL`South America	0.392
110	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.380
111	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.377
112	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.372
113	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.371
114	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.332
115	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.331
116	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.319
117	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.311
118	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.297
119	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.295
120	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.294
121	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.289
122	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.285
123	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.282
124	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.259
125	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.254
126	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.250
127	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.217
128	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.208
129	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.199
130	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.195
131	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.193
132	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.186
133	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.185
134	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.184
135	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.175
136	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.172
137	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.164
138	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.160
139	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.159
140	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.141
141	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.139
142	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.134
143	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.131
144	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.115
145	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.111
146	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.108
147	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.105
148	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.100
149	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.096
150	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.087
151	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.082
152	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.076
=153	Chile`CHL`South America	0.068
=153	United States`USA`Northern America	0.068
155	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.065
156	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.063
157	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.054
158	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.053
159	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.045
160	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.036
161	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.033
162	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.032
=163	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.031
=163	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.031
165	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.030
166	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.026
167	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.023
168	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.021
169	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.019
170	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.016
171	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.011
172	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.010
=173	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.008
=173	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.008
=173	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.008
176	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.002

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Venezuela0.968
2Chad0.950
3Nigeria0.939
4Yemen0.936
5Nicaragua0.932

Lowest

176Denmark0.002
173Swedenshared0.008
173Singaporeshared0.008
173New Zealandshared0.008
172Norway0.010

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 0.516. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
142values changed, of 176 in both
70 · 72rose · fell
34unchanged

Rose most

Myanmar0.330 → 0.662+0.332
Eswatini0.471 → 0.547+0.076
Tunisia0.375 → 0.448+0.073
Botswana0.092 → 0.159+0.067
North Macedonia0.666 → 0.726+0.060

Fell most

Afghanistan0.872 → 0.665−0.207
Moldova0.555 → 0.421−0.134
Burundi0.894 → 0.772−0.122
Sierra Leone0.710 → 0.611−0.099
Kenya0.616 → 0.531−0.085

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 2021.
165 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.008. 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 176 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
176 rows · 4.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download political-corruption-2021-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 (2021). Political Corruption Index, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/political-corruption/2021

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Political Corruption Index, 2020
176 countries
The year after ›
Political Corruption Index, 2022
176 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