A statue of the Scales of Justice casts a shadow on the Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria, Va., in 2018. File Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI | License Photo
July 20 (UPI) -- Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, published in February 2026, found that the global average score had fallen to 42 out of 100, its lowest level in more than a decade.
More than two-thirds of the 182 countries measured scored below 50. Latin America's persistent corruption scandals and weak systems of accountability are part of that broader decline.
Transparency International was even more direct in its assessment of the Americas.
The region, it said, has made no progress against corruption. Its average score matched the global average, while organized crime has increasingly penetrated politics and public institutions in countries such as Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.
