Legal Alert - Corruption Perception Index 2025 (CPI)

On 10 February 2026, Transparency International released its Corruption Perception Index for 2025[1].

In general terms, this index gives each country a score from 0 to 100: the higher the score, the better the perception of integrity.

The 2025 results show a worsening global perception of corruption: the world average is falling and most countries remain below the 50/100 threshold, reflecting a prolonged erosion of public integrity standards.

Portugal registers a score of 56/100 and ranks 46th out of 182 countries, down one point on 2024. This variation puts the country eight points below the European Union average (64/100 in 2025, stable compared to 2024) and therefore in counter-cycle to regional stagnation, signalling a relative loss of convergence in the European space.

At the top of the index are democracies with solid institutions and consistent enforcement: Denmark, Finland, Singapore, New Zealand and Switzerland.

At the other end of the spectrum are democracies with weak institutions and protracted conflict, such as South Sudan, Somalia, Venezuela, Syria and Yemen/Libya.

For Portugal, the decline - albeit slight - makes it advisable to speed up reforms: enforcement of economic and financial corruption; professionalisation of the administration; effective protection of whistleblowers; clear and auditable rules on conflicts of interest and lobbying (with public registration) and fully digital public procurement, with interoperable open data.

Overall, the panorama reinforces the urgency of risk governance and enhanced due diligence in value chains exposed to higher risk jurisdictions.