Estonia has secured a place among the world’s least corrupt nations, finishing joint eighth in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2025 — ahead of both the United Kingdom and the United States.
The annual index, which has tracked perceived public-sector corruption across the globe since 1995, scores 182 countries on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean), drawing on 13 independent data sources including the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. Estonia recorded a score of 76, putting it level with Australia, Hong Kong, and Ireland.
By comparison, the UK scored 70 and the US just 64 — figures that place both long-established democracies noticeably below.
Estonia’s Nordic neighbour, Denmark, topped the rankings with a score of 89, followed by Finland (88), Singapore (84), and New Zealand and Norway (both 81). Baltic neighbours fared considerably worse: Lithuania scored 65 and Latvia 60.
Transparency International credited Estonia’s result to the sustained strengthening of its anti-corruption frameworks, noting that “persistent consolidation of anti-corruption efforts has driven progress in countries like Estonia.”
The broader global picture, however, is concerning. The worldwide CPI average has fallen for the first time in over a decade, dropping to 42 out of 100. Of the 182 countries assessed, 122 scored below 50, and the number of countries achieving scores above 80 has shrunk from 12 a decade ago to just five today.
Particularly notable is a deteriorating trend among Western democracies. Transparency International specifically flagged worsening perceptions of corruption in the US, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, France, and Sweden — countries traditionally regarded as governance benchmarks.
The organisation is calling on governments to reinforce independent oversight institutions, improve transparency in political party financing, and work across borders to disrupt the international channels through which illicitly obtained funds are laundered. It also sounded a political warning: administrations that fail to tackle corruption risk being removed by the very citizens they govern.
