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Corruption Perceptions Index 2025: Stronger institutions, freer civic space needed in Middle East and North Africa  

Berlin, 10 February 2026 – Corruption across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains deeply entrenched, with most governments failing to tackle public sector corruption according to the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released today by Transparency International.

Since 2012, three out of 18 countries have significantly declined and none have significantly improved, highlighting that many Middle Eastern and North African governments are still failing to effectively tackle public sector corruption due to a lack of commitments from leaders and weaknesses in institutions that should hold power to account.

Even amongst the region’s highest scorers – United Arab Emirates (69), Qatar (58) and Saudi Arabia (57), anti-corruption reforms are dependent on the willingness of leaders to make sustained efforts to move towards transparency. In non-democratic regimes such as these, anti-corruption efforts are particularly fragile as they remain vulnerable to shifts in political priorities.

Shrinking civic space that inhibits the ability of civil society including journalists, NGOs and whistleblowers to speak out against abuses of power, has created more space for corrupt practices to flourish. In Morocco (39), for example, this is undermining investigation of embezzlement by elected officials and civil servants and was a factor in triggering mass Gen-Z anti-government protests last year.

Elsewhere, several of the lowest scoring countries in the region, including Syria (15), Libya (13) and Yemen (13) remain in a state of uncertainty related to recent or ongoing conflicts. This has played an important role in their respective governments’ commitment to anti-corruption efforts, where political rivalries, lack of human resources and infrastructure, as well as internal tensions means that good governance is not prioritised.

Manuel Pirino, Regional Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa at Transparency International said:

“These latest CPI results show that corruption remains embedded in the region, negatively impacting people’s lives. To tackle this, countries should put in place mechanisms that open civic space and ensure transparency, rather than preventing it. They must ensure anti-corruption and oversight agencies are independent and provide them with a wider remit and the proper resources and training they need to operate effectively. Without the proper accountability mechanisms in place, corruption will only continue to permeate the region.”

Transparency International is calling for governments to implement measures that open and strengthen civic space and ensure independent oversight mechanisms. Policymakers should also fast-track beneficial ownership transparency reforms and close implementation gaps so that authorities can prevent, detect and investigate corruption. The UAE, which despite its high CPI score remains vulnerable to money laundering and illicit financial flows, should tighten safeguards in real estate and step up enforcement in cross-border corruption cases.

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE REGION

The CPI ranks 182 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). 

  • The region’s highest scorers are United Arab Emirates (69), Qatar (58) and the Saudi Arabia (57).
  • Although Iraq (28) has seen some positive developments, reflecting its anti-corruption agency’s commitment to engage in reform, it is unclear if it will be able to overcome significant structural hurdles to significantly improve its still very low score.
  • Lebanon’s (23) ability to make headway with reforms on public and private sector accountability is limited by failing institutions and military interventions from neighbouring states.
  • Lower scores in the region highlight the need to open civic space, strengthen transparency and ensure independent, well-resourced anti-corruption agencies.

NOTE TO EDITORS 

For each country’s individual score and changes over time, as well as global and regional analysis, see the CPI 2025 webpage: https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2025 (goes live at 07:01 CET, 10 February 2026.)

The media page includes the CPI 2025 report, as well as the full dataset, methodology and graphics.

INTERVIEW REQUESTS

Spokespeople are available in English, Arabic and French. For queries about regional and global findings, please contact the Transparency International press office at [email protected].

In the case of country-specific queries, please contact Transparency International’s national chapters.

ABOUT THE CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX

Since its inception in 1995, Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index has become the leading global indicator of public sector corruption. The index scores 182 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 Join Research Centre in 2017. All 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.