Malta registers three-point improvement on Corruption Perceptions Index

Malta's Corruption Perceptions Index score improved by three points to 49 when compared to last year.

Malta’s ranking on the index also improved by five places when compared to last year, with the country now ranking 60th from 180 countries and territories around the world.

Last year Malta recorded a score of 46 points, and ranked 65th.

But the report also places Malta among the countries that have recorded a significant long-term decline since 2012. The score represents an eight-point drop over the past decade, putting Malta alongside Spain and Hungary as one of the notable decliners in Western Europe and the European Union.  

The report highlights growing concerns about governance and accountability as anti-corruption efforts stagnate across Europe. Transparency International said the erosion of anti-corruption standards across the region reflects a widening gap between laws on paper and their enforcement, as well as weakening political commitment to integrity in public office.

Although Western Europe and the EU remain the world’s least corrupt region overall, the regional average score has fallen from 66 to 64 over the past decade. Thirteen countries have registered significant declines, while only seven have improved, signalling what Transparency International described as stalled progress and a failure of leadership.

Malta’s continued drop comes amid broader concerns about democratic backsliding and insufficient accountability mechanisms across Europe. Transparency International warned that attacks on civil society, independent media and whistleblowers are making abuses of power harder to detect and expose, further undermining public trust in institutions.

At EU level, the adoption of the bloc’s first Anti-Corruption Directive in December 2025 was seen as a missed opportunity. While intended to harmonise criminal laws and promote a zero-tolerance approach, key provisions were weakened during negotiations, resulting in a framework that lacks ambition, clarity and enforceability, Transparency International said.

As member states prepare to transpose the directive into national law, the organisation urged governments to treat it as a starting point rather than a ceiling, and to pursue more robust reforms to strengthen enforcement and oversight.

Across the region, traditionally strong democracies have also seen their scores fall. France scored 66, the UK 70 and Sweden 80, reflecting what Transparency International described as a broader pattern of declining leadership and weakening integrity systems even in well-performing states.

Globally, the CPI 2025 paints a similarly bleak picture. The index shows corruption worsening worldwide, with the global average score dropping to 42, its lowest level in more than a decade. More than two-thirds of countries now score below 50, indicating serious corruption challenges.

Transparency International chair François Valérian warned that the absence of bold leadership is undermining the global fight against corruption and weakening international pressure for reform.

The CPI ranks 182 countries and territories based on perceptions of public sector corruption, drawing on data from 13 independent sources, including the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.