Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) global average. The CPI ranks 180 countries/territories by perceived public-sector corruption on a 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) scale, aggregating 13 expert and business surveys.
How to read it
Readings above the normal line are better than normal; readings below it are worse.
Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) global average. The CPI ranks 180 countries/territories by perceived public-sector corruption on a 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) scale, aggregating 13 expert and business surveys. The global average is a headline measure of the world's institutional integrity; it has stagnated near 43 since the current methodology began in 2012 and recently slipped to a record low.
This indicator’s slice of Factrail’s verified causal web — the people, facts, drivers and welfare indicators it connects to. Select any node to trace a path.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
Insufficient history — only one observation, so there is no trend yet.
Measured value over time. Its norm (50.0 index score (0-100)) is far off this scale, marked at the top edge, so the series stays worse than normal throughout — the deviation badge shows the gap.
Each driver linked to this indicator, strongest pull first, on the same timeline above. Markers are the facts that moved that driver. These are modelled influences — treat them as correlational unless a documented causal edge is shown.
Higher state-capture pressure depresses perceived integrity and pulls CPI scores down; the persistent global stagnation near 43 reflects this counter-force.
State capture pressure: lowers welfare, impact strength 65%, 0 linked facts on the timeline.Stronger, credible enforcement raises perceived control of corruption, the core component of CPI; the global effect is diffuse and slow, hence medium strength.
Anti-corruption enforcement capacity: raises welfare, impact strength 60%, 0 linked facts on the timeline.CPI higher = cleaner; -1 = adverse. Strength basis: Credible prosecution of elite trafficking and corruption networks can reduce perceived corruption; treaty exit creates the reverse risk. Strength 0.41 is a qualitative pathway class from the pack, not an empirical coefficient; it creates no historical indicator observations.
Castro Libre narco-legacy: lowers welfare, impact strength 41%, 0 linked facts on the timeline.Reduced judicial independence can weaken integrity safeguards and increase opportunities for impunity and corruption, which may lower perceived public-sector integrity. The CPI is perception-based and global aggregation limits causal precision, so the relation remains medium confidence.
Judicial Independence: lowers welfare, impact strength 30%, 0 linked facts on the timeline.Captured courts and procurement lower perceived integrity.
Illiberal state capture in Hungary: lowers welfare, impact strength 30%, 0 linked facts on the timeline.