Countries by Control of Corruption: Percentile Rank, Lower Bound of 90% Confidence Interval

Ranking 2023

Values shown in %.

Analysis

This metric reports the lower bound of the 90% confidence interval for a country's Control of Corruption percentile rank, as estimated by the World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators. The unit is percentage, and higher values indicate better control of corruption. According to the source: 'The Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) are a research dataset summarizing the views on the quality of governance provided by a large number of enterprise, citizen and expert survey respondents in industrial and developing countries. Governance consists of the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised. This includes the process by which governments are selected, mo[nitored, and replaced].' Because this is a lower-bound confidence interval rather than a point estimate, it is a conservative measure: a country's true percentile rank is likely at or above the reported figure. Coverage is strong: 205 countries have data for 2023, all from the most recent year, with 100% classified as official-quality data points and no extreme outliers detected at the 3-standard-deviation threshold.

The top of the ranking is concentrated in Northern Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Denmark ranks 1st at 98.58%, followed by Finland at 96.70% and New Zealand and Norway tied at rank 3 with 95.75%. Singapore and Sweden share rank 5 at 95.28%, and Switzerland ranks 7th at 94.81%. Australia (rank 10, 90.57%) and Canada and Germany (both rank 11, 89.62%) also score in the top tier. Notably, Uruguay (rank 14, 88.68%) is the highest-ranked country in Latin America, placing it above many wealthier OECD nations. These high-scoring countries share consistent placement near the top of this conservative lower-bound measure, meaning their strong rankings hold even under the most cautious statistical interpretation.

The middle of the ranking shows considerable clustering. Countries such as Chile (rank 31, 74.06%), South Korea (rank 32, 71.70%), and Georgia (rank 52, 62.74%) occupy the upper-middle range. Further down, South Africa (rank 103, 32.08%), Colombia (rank 109, 30.66%), and India (rank 113, 28.77%) represent large, diverse economies with mid-to-lower scores. A notable anomaly is Bhutan (rank 17, 84.43%) and Rwanda (rank 48, 63.21%), both lower-income countries that outrank numerous wealthier nations. At the lower end, Russia ranks 171st at 7.55%, and countries such as Cambodia (rank 185, 2.83%), Iraq (rank 186, 1.89%), and Nicaragua (rank 189, 1.42%) score near zero. The 13 countries tied at exactly 0.00% — including North Korea, Yemen, and Chad — represent the floor of the distribution.

Several limitations apply to this metric. First, it is a perception-based measure derived from surveys of enterprises, citizens, and experts, meaning it reflects views rather than directly measured corruption outcomes. Second, the use of the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval means rankings can shift meaningfully when point estimates are compared instead. Countries with wider confidence intervals — often smaller or less-surveyed nations — may be more affected by this conservatism. Third, small island states and territories appear throughout the ranking (for example, American Samoa at rank 37 and Greenland at rank 45), but their scores may rest on limited survey samples, making direct comparison with larger countries less straightforward. Fourth, year-over-year average change in values is 15.7%, indicating that country positions can shift substantially between reporting periods, so this snapshot should not be interpreted as a static assessment.

Methodology

Metric: Control of Corruption Percentile Rank, Lower Bound of 90% Confidence Interval. Indicator code: CC.PER.RNK.LOWER. Data source: World Bank World Development Indicators. Data year: 2023. Unit: percentage (higher is better). This metric uses the lower bound of the 90% confidence interval around each country's Control of Corruption percentile rank. Per the source definition: 'The Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) are a research dataset summarizing the views on the quality of governance provided by a large number of enterprise, citizen and expert survey respondents in industrial and developing countries. Governance consists of the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised. This includes the process by which governments are selected, mo[nitored, and replaced].' Coverage: 205 countries, all with data from 2023 (100% recency). Data quality: 100% of data points are classified as official. Outliers: 0 extreme outliers detected at the 3-standard-deviation threshold. Average year-over-year change: 15.7%. Value range: 0.00% to 98.58%, a spread of approximately 999% relative to the minimum. Because this is a confidence interval lower bound, reported values are conservative estimates; true percentile ranks are likely equal to or higher than the figures shown.

Sources

• World Bank