Kigali, 11th February 2025 – The 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released today by Transparency International (TI), reveals that Rwanda has made significant progress, achieving its highest-ever score of 57%, an increase from 53% in 2023. With this milestone, Rwanda ranks third (up from fourth in 2023) in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, maintains its top position in East Africa, and climbs to 43rd place globally, improving from 49th in 2023.
In Africa, Rwanda and Botswana share third place with a score of 57%, following Seychelles (first with 72%, up from 71% in 2023) and Cabo Verde (second with 62%, down from 64% in 2023).
Within East Africa, Rwanda leads the rankings, followed by Tanzania (82nd with 41%), Kenya (121st with 32%), Uganda (140th with 26%), Democratic Republic of the Congo (163rd with 20%), and Burundi (165th with 17%).
Marie Immaculée Ingabire, Chairperson of TI-Rwanda, noted that “Rwanda’s significant improvement in the CPI reflects the government’s steadfast commitment to combating corruption. The country’s strong political will and zero-tolerance approach continue to drive positive change. However, as highlighted by research such as TI-Rwanda’s Rwanda Bribery Index (RBI), certain challenges remain. To sustain and build on this progress, all stakeholders must enhance collaboration and intensify efforts against corruption.”
The CPI 2024 for Rwanda’s score draws from seven sources, including :
African Development Bank CPIA (69% - up from 57 in 2023)
World Economic Forum EOS (69%)
World Justice Project Rule of Law Index (59%)
Global Insights Country Risk Ratings (59%)
World Bank CPIA (51% - up from 43% in 2023)
Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index (47% - up from 45% in 2023)
Varieties of Democracy Project (45% - down from 54% in 2023)
In 2024, the Sub-Saharan African region once again registered the lowest average score on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), at just 33%, with 90% of countries scoring below 50%. The lowest scorers declined further on this year’s CPI : Equatorial Guinea (13%), Eritrea (13%), Somalia (9%) and South Sudan (8%). Yet amid this very low annual performance, there were African countries, including Rwanda, that invested in anti-corruption and made remarkable progress.
GLOBAL HIGHLIGHTS : Corruption is playing a devastating role in the climate crisis
Global corruption levels remain alarmingly high, with efforts to reduce them faltering, according to the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The report has exposed serious corruption levels across the globe, with more than two-thirds of countries scoring below 50 out of 100. The global average on the index has remained unchanged at 43, highlighting the need for urgent action against corruption and warning of a critical global obstacle to implementing successful climate action.
Against a backdrop of record-breaking global warming and extreme weather events, erosion of democracy and a decline in global climate leadership, the world has its back against the ropes in its fight against the climate crisis. Corruption is making that fight much harder, and the international community must address the link between corruption and the climate crisis.
The latest data shows that many of the countries most heavily involved in international climate action - including climate-vulnerable nations and hosts of international summits such as the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) - have low and/or declining CPI scores. Corruption is obstructing effective climate action by hindering the adoption of ambitious policies. A recent Transparency International report highlighted the significant influence of oil and gas lobbyists at events like COP, an activity that also affects political centres around the world.
François Valérian, Chair of Transparency International said : “Corruption is an evolving global threat that does far more than undermine development – it is a key cause of declining democracy, instability and human rights violations. The international community and every nation must make tackling corruption a top and long-term priority. This is crucial to pushing back against authoritarianism and securing a peaceful, free and sustainable world. The dangerous trends revealed in this year’s Corruption Perceptions Index highlight the need to follow through with concrete action now to address global corruption.”
Apollinaire Mupiganyi, TI-Rwanda Executive Director and TI Board member underscored : “Across the world, corruption fuels illicit financial flows, shrinks civic space, and undermines efforts to combat pressing global crises like climate change. The fight against corruption is not just about governance, it is about securing justice, economic stability, and a sustainable future for all. Now more than ever, governments, civil society, and international institutions must unite to dismantle corruption’s grip and protect the integrity of our societies.”
Maíra Martini, CEO of Transparency International said : "We must urgently root out corruption before it fully derails meaningful climate action. Governments and multilateral organisations must embed anti-corruption measures into climate efforts to safeguard finance, rebuild trust and maximise impact. Today, corrupt forces not only shape but often dictate policies and dismantle checks and balances – silencing journalists, activists and anyone fighting for equality and sustainability. True climate resilience demands tackling these threats directly and decisively. Vulnerable people around the world desperately need this action."
Global Corruption Highlights
The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
● Almost 6.8 billion people live in countries with CPI scores under 50. This is equivalent to 85% of the world population of 8 billion.
● For the seventh year in a row, Denmark obtains the highest score on the index (90) and is closely followed by Finland (88) and Singapore (84).
● Countries with the lowest scores are mostly in fragile and conflict-affected countries like South Sudan (8), Somalia (9), Venezuela (10), Syria (12), Libya (13), Eritrea (13), Yemen (13) and Equatorial Guinea (13).
● Over a quarter of the countries in the sample (47) got their lowest score yet on the index, including Austria (67), Bangladesh (23), Brazil (34), Cuba (41), France (67), Germany (75), Haiti (16), Hungary (41), Iran (23), Mexico (26), Russia (22), South Sudan (8), Switzerland (81), the United States (65) and Venezuela (10).
Over the past 5 years, 7 countries have significantly improved their scores in the index :
● These include Côte d’Ivoire (45), the Dominican Republic (36), Kosovo (44), Kuwait (46), the Maldives (38), Moldova (43) and Zambia (39).
Over the past 5 years, 13 countries saw their scores significantly decline in the index :
● The significant decliners are Austria (67), Belarus (33), Belgium (69), El Salvador (30), France (67), Kyrgyzstan (25), Lebanon (22), Myanmar (16), Nicaragua (14), Russia (22), Sri Lanka (32), the United Kingdom (71), and Venezuela (10).
CPI 2024 THEME : CORRUPTION AND THE CLIMATE CRISIS
The CPI highlights the billions of dollars of climate funds that are at risk of being stolen or misused.
● Most countries that are highly vulnerable to climate change score below 50 on the CPI. Huge numbers of people are at needless risk because corruption is impairing climate projects meant to protect them. This highlights the critical need for robust transparency and accountability measures to ensure the effective use of these funds.
● Recent Transparency International research shows how corruption can undermine a “just transition” to net zero, highlighting specific examples in South Africa (41), Vietnam (40) and Indonesia (37) where insufficient safeguards have created opportunities for unscrupulous actors.
● In South Africa (41) around a billion rand (more than US$56 million) is stolen each month from Eskom, the state-owned energy provider, according to its former chief executive.
● Countries suffering the worst effects of the climate crisis have the lowest scores, including South Sudan (8), Somalia (9), and Venezuela (10). In Somalia, climate change has wreaked havoc on the country’s agricultural economy and worsened its 30 year-long conflict.
The CPI report has also revealed the extent to which key players in climate diplomacy are struggling with corruption, which its authors argue is undermining the effectiveness of multilateralism, such as the COP negotiations.
● Azerbaijan, host of COP29, at which at least 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access, scored just 22.
● COP30 hosts Brazil will be responsible for securing the $1.3 trillion target of climate financing by 2035. However, in this year’s CPI it received an all-time low score of 34.
● South Africa (41), host of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, has dropped by three points since 2019.
● Some host countries with below-average CPI scores have also contributed to the opacity of these conferences by limiting transparency and the participation of civil society. This is a serious obstacle in developing effective climate policy and needs to be addressed moving towards COP30 in Brazil and the G20 Leaders’ Summit in South Africa.
• Undue influence to obstruct climate policy can happen in countries with both high and low corruption levels. However, it is in wealthy, developed countries that this interference has the most serious impact because it is undermining their work to agree on ambitious goals, reduce emissions and build resilience globally. Three members of the Umbrella group have significantly declining scores – the USA (65), Canada (75) and New Zealand (83).
The CPI has also highlighted the human cost of climate corruption.
● Land and environmental defenders are frequently at the forefront of the fight against the climate crisis, but their efforts expose them to intimidation, violence and even murder. This is most common in countries with serious corruption problems – almost all 1,013 murders of environmental defenders since 2019 took place in countries with CPI scores below 50.
ABOUT THE CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX
Since its inception in 1995, the Corruption Perceptions Index has become the leading global indicator of public sector corruption. The index scores 180 countries and territories around the world based on perceptions of public sector corruption, using data from 13 external sources, including the World Bank, World Economic Forum, private risk and consulting companies, think tanks and others. The scores reflect the views of experts and business people.
The process for calculating the CPI is regularly reviewed to make sure it is as robust and coherent as possible, most recently by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in 2017. All the CPI scores since 2012 are comparable from one year to the next. For more information, see this article : The ABCs of the CPI : How the Corruption Perceptions Index is calculated.