Sri Lanka climbs to 107th in 2025 Corruption Index

Saturday, 14 February 2026 00:14 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Climbs 14 places from previous year, but ranking is third worst in a decade

Sri Lanka improved its position in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), rising 14 places to rank 107th out of 180 countries, according to Transparency International’s latest report.

The country’s score increased to 35 in 2025 from 32 in 2024, when it was ranked 121st. The three-point gain lifted Sri Lanka back above the 120-mark range recorded last year, signalling a modest recovery in perceptions of public sector integrity.

Data from recent years show that Sri Lanka’s ranking had deteriorated sharply in 2024, when it reached its worst recorded position of 121 since 2002. Prior to that, the country ranked 94th in 2023, 93rd in 2022, 89th in 2021 and 91st in 2020.

Earlier fluctuations included 115th in 2018 and 95th in 2019, reflecting volatility rather than a sustained trend. The latest move to 107th partially reverses last year’s decline but does not restore earlier positions seen in the 2020–2022 period

Since 2002, Sri Lanka’s average ranking has stood at 89.71, with its best position of 52 recorded in 2002.

The CPI measures perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 represents “highly corrupt” and 100 denotes “very clean.” Despite the improvement, Sri Lanka’s score of 35 remains below the global average of 43, indicating continuing governance and accountability challenges.

Transparency International compiles the index using 13 external data sources, including assessments from institutions such as the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. The index evaluates factors including bribery, diversion of public funds, the effectiveness of anti-corruption prosecutions, legal safeguards, access to information and protections for whistle-blowers and journalists.

Globally, Denmark retained the top position for the eighth consecutive year with a score of 89, followed by Finland at 88 and Singapore at 84. At the lower end of the index, South Sudan and Somalia were ranked among the most corrupt, each with a score of 9.