Transparency International released its 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) on Jan. 23, 2020.^[1] The CPI has been a fixture in the lives of compliance professionals and globally active organizations since 1995, when the first report was released.

This year’s report focused on the role that money plays in elections and politics, and the relationship between corruption and political party financing. According to the report, nations that have strong controls and transparency over the flow of money into politics score much higher on the CPI than those nations that do not have adequate controls in place.

“Frustration with government corruption and lack of trust in institutions speaks to a need for greater political integrity,” said Delia Matilde Ferreira Rubio, chair of Transparency International. “Governments must urgently address the corrupting role of big money in political party financing and the undue influence it exerts on our political systems.”

CPI 2019 found that most nations have either stagnated or backslid on anti-corruption efforts, resulting in an overall lower score on average for most regions. Europe had the highest average score, while Africa and the Middle East scored the lowest. The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, drawing on 13 expert assessments and surveys of business executives. It uses a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).