Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal’s score on the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) of Transparency International remained unchanged at 34, indicating that no significant improvement has been seen in the country’s efforts to control corruption.
Nepal, which scored 34 out of 100 points in the CPI, continues to remain in a below-average position. With this score, Nepal ranked 109th of 182 countries.
Denmark topped the index for the eighth consecutive year with 89 points as the least corrupt country, while South Sudan and Somalia, both with nine points, ranked as the most corrupt.
A score of zero represents a highly corrupt country, while 100 denotes a very transparent one.
Among South Asian countries, Bhutan ranked highest in the CPI with 71 points, followed by India (39), the Maldives (39), and Sri Lanka (35). Pakistan(28), Bangladesh (24), and Afghanistan (16) remained lower than Nepal in the CPI. Neighboring China scored 43 points.
Transparency International said in its report that, except for Bhutan, corruption remains a serious problem across most South Asian countries. It cited political instability, weak governance, abuse of public office, impunity, and lack of transparency as the major reasons behind the failure to improve scores.
According to Transparency International Nepal, the risk of corruption is high in public service delivery, public procurement, the tax system, and judicial processes. It called for strong political will, full implementation of laws, an independent judiciary, transparent administration, and strengthened citizen participation to control corruption.
The 2025 CPI covers 182 countries. The global average score has declined by one point to 42 compared to last year. A decade ago, 12 countries scored above 80 points, but by 2025, that number had fallen to just five.
Since 2012, more than 50 countries have seen a deterioration in corruption control, while only 31 countries have shown improvement. Overall, two-thirds of the world’s countries scored below 50 points.
