Japan vs United States: Judicial Corruption Score
Japan
2.68
in 2025
United States
2.87
in 2025
Japan rank
8th
United States rank
6th
Judicial Corruption Score over time
- Japan
- United States
How they compare
United States currently reports 2.87 against 2.68 in Japan, a difference of 0.19.
That makes United States's figure about 1.1 times Japan's.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 237 shared years of data; in 1789 it was United States ahead.
Japan ranks 8th and United States ranks 6th of 176 countries.
Across the 25 decades both report, Japan averaged higher in 9 and United States in 16.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Japan | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1780s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1790s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1800s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1810s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1820s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1830s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1840s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1850s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1860s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1870s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1880s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1890s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1900s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1910s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1920s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1930s | 1.57 | 1.73 | 0.16 | United States |
| 1940s | 1.8 | 1.73 | 0.07 | Japan |
| 1950s | 2.64 | 1.73 | 0.9142 | Japan |
| 1960s | 2.76 | 1.73 | 1.03 | Japan |
| 1970s | 2.76 | 1.73 | 1.03 | Japan |
| 1980s | 2.52 | 1.46 | 1.06 | Japan |
| 1990s | 2.68 | 1.91 | 0.775 | Japan |
| 2000s | 2.68 | 1.91 | 0.775 | Japan |
| 2010s | 2.68 | 1.91 | 0.775 | Japan |
| 2020s | 2.68 | 2.23 | 0.4547 | Japan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher judicial corruption score, Japan or United States?
- United States, at 2.87 against 2.68 in Japan as of 2025.
- What is the difference in judicial corruption score between Japan and United States?
- 0.19, with United States ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and United States?
- 237 years are reported by both, from 1789 to 2025.
- How do Japan and United States rank globally for judicial corruption score?
- Japan ranks 8th and United States ranks 6th of 176 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Judicial Corruption Score. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Data by V-Dem. Expert estimates of how often individuals or businesses make undocumented extra payments or bribes to obtain a favorable judicial decision, or speed up or delay the process. Higher scores mean less corruption. A score of 0 is approximately the average across all countries and years.