Khaberni - Jordan has improved by one degree on the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2025, issued by Transparency International, advancing three global ranks to settle at the 56th position out of 182 countries and territories covered by the evaluation.
Jordan scored 50 out of 100 on the index, an increase of one point compared to 2024, where zero indicates the highest levels of corruption, and 100 the highest levels of integrity.
In the Arab world, Jordan advanced one rank to settle in fifth place alongside the Kingdom of Bahrain, after the United Arab Emirates (69 points), Qatar (58 points), Saudi Arabia (57 points), and Oman (52 points).
The Corruption Perceptions Index measures the level of corruption in the public sector, through assessing a number of public interest issues, most notably law enforcement, judicial and executive integrity, the government's ability to curb bribery, activating accountability mechanisms, controlling the use of public funds, preventing embezzlement of public money and exploitation of office for personal gains, in addition to issues related to favoritism, nepotism, bureaucracy, protecting whistleblowers and journalists, providing access to information, and a safe space for public accountability.
The results of the index showed an improvement in Jordan's performance in a number of subsidiary sources related to law enforcement and good governance, among them the Transformation Index issued by Bertelsmann Organization, which recorded an improvement of 5 points, measuring the extent of legal action against those who exploit their positions, the effectiveness of pursuing corruption cases, and the presence of clear and fair mechanisms to combat it.
Jordan's score also improved by 4 points on the Democracy Patterns Index in 2025, after falling by 6 points in 2024, in light of improved measures taken to curb corruption associated with embezzlement in the public sector.
Jordan also progressed by one degree on the Rule of Law Index issued by the World Justice Project, which focuses on reducing the exploitation of public funds by government officials for personal gains.
On the other hand, the World Economic Forum source indicated that Jordan dropped by one point, and this source measures the extent to which companies resort to paying undocumented additional amounts or offering bribes related to import and export, public utilities, taxes, tendering, or influencing judicial decisions.
No changes were recorded in the rest of the sources, most notably: the Global Guide to State Risks issued by the Political Risk Services Group, the Risk Rating by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the Global Competitiveness Yearbook issued by the International Institute for Management Development, the Risk Rating issued by Global Insight, which deals with issues of financial accountability, judicial independence, prevalence of bribery and nepotism, and the duration of holding public positions.
Globally, Denmark topped the index with 89 points, followed by Finland with 88 points, then Singapore with 84 points, while New Zealand and Norway each obtained 81 points. On the other hand, Somalia and South Sudan were at the bottom of the rankings with 9 points, followed by Venezuela with 10 points, then Eritrea, Libya, and Yemen with 13 points each.
The report noted that the Corruption Perceptions Index does not measure tax fraud, money laundering, illicit financial flows, or forms of corruption related to the private sector.
Recommendations for enhancing Jordan's progress on the index
The report included a set of recommendations to support Jordan's advancement on the index, notably aligning legislation with the United Nations Convention against Corruption, enhancing the judiciary's independence and the supervisory bodies, establishing principles of integrity and transparency in the public sector, expanding information availability, enhancing protection for corruption whistleblowers, ensuring transparency in public appointments and procurements, supporting freedom of opinion and expression, and accelerating the digital transformation of government services.
It is noteworthy that Rashid for Integrity and Transparency (Transparency International - Jordan) is a non-profit civil society organization founded in 2013, representing the only national chapter of Transparency International in Jordan, aiming to enhance good governance and combat corruption in both public and private sectors, and expanding the database and information available to citizens.
