The most corrupt nations in the world in 2024
Australia has recently ranked at No.10 in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) with a score of 77/100.
The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories worldwide by their perceived levels of public sector corruption.
The results are given on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
Transparency International, which compiles the rankings, is an international coalition against corruption, operating in over 100 countries.
At the top of the list, measuring low in corruption, are Denmark, Finland, Singapore, New Zealand, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands, and Australia.
Click through to see the nations at the very bottom of the list.
Sudan
Sudan has a score of 15 this year, with a change of -5 since last year, meaning it ranks 170 out of 180 countries.
The sub-Saharan African nation is in the grips of a humanitarian crisis after almost three years of civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces under army general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and its allies under the Janjaweed leader Hemedti.
The war has left widespread malnutrition, massive population displacement and chronic insecurity.
Sudan has a long history of military rule, human rights abuses and restrictions on press freedom.
Former President Omar al-Bashir's regime was overthrown in a military coup in 2019.
Pictured is the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua has a score of 14 this year, with a change of -3 since last year, meaning it ranks 172 out of 180 countries.
The developing nation, in Central America, is one of the poorest in the Western hemisphere.
The republic has been described as a dictatorship and is under the authoritarian leadership of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president Rosario Murillo.
According to Human Rights Watch, the government has closed media outlets, NGOs, and universities, violating freedoms of expression and association and restricting the right to education.
Image: San Juan Del Sur cruise port in Nicaragua
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea has a score of 13 this year, with a change of -4 since last year, meaning it ranks 173 out of 180 countries.
The small nation on the west coast of Africa is controlled by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo who has been in power since 1979.
In November 2022, Obiang was confirmed for a sixth term with 95 per cent of the vote.
The election was criticised as unfree and unfair.
According to Human Rights Watch, wealth from the nation's significant oil reserves is not spread among the majority of the population, which lives in poverty.
Equatorial Guinea also has no effective political opposition or independent press.
Image: Malabo's harbour, the capital of Equatorial Guinea.
Eritrea
Eritrea has a score of 13 this year, with a change of -8 since last year, meaning it ranks 173 out of 180 countries.
A developing nation in the Horn of Africa, Eritrea has never had legislative or presidential elections since its independence in 1993 when President Isaias Afewerki gained power.
According to Human Rights Watch, no legislature has met since 2010.
All Eritreans, male and female, aged between 18 and 40 are conscripted into the military.
The nation has no free press.
Image: Asmara, capital of Eritrea, shot from the top of the tower of the Catholic Cathedral.
Libya
Libya has a score of 13 this year, with a change of -5 since last year, meaning it ranks 173 out of 180 countries.
The large, developing country in the north of Africa was ruled by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi for 42 years until he was overthrown and killed during the 2011 Libyan Civil War, which was part of the wider Arab Spring.
Governance in Libya has been tumultuous since then with two administrations competing for control, the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU), and the Government of National Stability (GNS) in eastern Libya, amid disagreements over how the 2011 constitution and subsequent amendments should be interpreted.
According to Transparency International, Libya's oil reserves are at risk of exploitation and are used as a manoeuvring tactic, exacerbating the political standoff.
Image: Libya's capital Tripoli.
Yemen
Yemen has a score of 13 this year, with a change of -3 since last year, meaning it ranks 173 out of 180 countries.
Yemen, on the Arabian peninsula, is in a constant state of war and humanitarian crisis.
According to Transparency International, the conflict allows the corrupt to accumulate wealth and escape accountability and undue influence by military forces while millions of people are unable to access emergency aid and health care.
There has been no significant military offensives since the last United Nations-brokered truce ended in 2022, however, according to Human Rights Watch, the Yemeni government, Houthi forces and the Saudi- and United Arab Emirates-led coalition continue to violate human rights and international law.
Image: Sanaa in Yemen.
Syria
Syria has a score of 12 this year, with a change of -1 since last year, meaning it ranks 177 out of 180 countries.
Syria is under a transitional government following the downfall of the Assad regime in late 2024.
There is now a significant push for the country to move towards inclusive and transparent democracy, in part by investing in technological solutions in public administration, or "e-governance", which would improve transparency and help reduce corruption.
More than a decade of conflict means most of the nation remains in a state of hardship and insecurity, without basic civilian infrastructure and services like water and sanitation.
Mass internal displacement means hundreds of thousands of people live in ill-equipped and under-resourced camps.
Image: Damascus Syria Cityscape with Omayyad Mosque
Venezuela
Venezuela has a score of 10 this year, with a change of -3 since last year, meaning it ranks 178 out of 180 countries.
Venezuela is a presidential republic on the northern coast of South America. The developing country has the world's largest oil reserves.
President Nicolas Maduro came to power in 2019, but his election was deemed illegitimate by the Organisation of American States.
The United States has attempted to use sanctions on the nation's oil sector to implore President Nicolas Maduro to adhere to diplomatic processes.
According to Transparency International, criminal networks use the payment of bribes and the co-optation of judges and prosecutors at all levels of the justice system to secure the operation of their illicit businesses.
According to Human Rights Watch, more than seven million Venezuelans have left the country in the last decade, fleeing harsh economic conditions.
Image: Caracas Airport on the coast of Caracas in the north of Venezuela.
Somalia
Somalia has a score of 9 this year, with a change of -2 since last year, meaning it ranks 179 out of 180 countries.
The country is plagued by violence and instability, according to Transparency International, amid an ongoing civil war between the federal Somali government and al-Shabaab militants, that began in 2009.
In October 2022, the recently elected president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud dissolved two key anti-corruption bodies – the Judicial Service Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission – via decree.
Somalia is one of the least developed countries in the world with poor economic and humanitarian conditions.
Image: Port of Bossaso in Somalia.
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