Does Authoritarianism Fuel Corruption?

Transparency International has once more released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), ranking 180 countries and territories on their levels of public-sector corruption. The index is based on the opinions of experts and businesspeople and relies on 13 independent data sources.

One of the reflections highlighted in this year’s index is the correlation between different regime types and perceived levels of corruption. As the following chart shows, full democracies had an average CPI score of 73 in 2024, while authoritarian regimes had an average score of just 29. On this index, a low score means a country is considered more corrupt. For example, Denmark placed as the world’s least corrupt country with a score of 90 out of 100.

There were only 24 full democracies worldwide in 2024. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), these are countries in which “not only basic political freedoms and civil liberties are respected, but which also tend to be underpinned by a political culture conducive to the flourishing of democracy.” In these places, the government functions, media are independent and diverse and there are systems in place for checks and balances. Included in this group in 2024 were countries in western Europe, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

There were also 50 flawed democracies, which the EIU says “at least allow for the possibility of change, although incumbents or anointed successors are likely to win in these too.” The group includes countries such as the United States, Brazil, India and Indonesia. While this group has free and fair elections, there are weaknesses, whether through low levels of political participation or problems in governance.

Hybrid regimes include countries such as Hong Kong, Georgia and Turkey. In this group, elections have “substantial irregularities that often prevent them from being both free and fair”. Government pressure on opposition parties and candidates may occur and the rule of law is weak, with journalists expected to experience external pressures and harassment.

Finally, there were 59 authoritarian regimes. Elections are not free and fair in these countries which lack political pluralism and state media operate or are controlled by groups connected to the regime with censorship. Countries in this group include Algeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia and China.

The total number of countries included in this chart is 169, which is lower than the 180 covered by the CPI. This is because Transparency International used the EIU’s political systems classification for the years 2022 and 2023, which did not provide data for 13 of the countries in the sample.