Australia vs New Zealand: Legislative Corruption Score

Australia
1.72
in 2025
New Zealand
1.89
in 2025
Australia rank
16th
New Zealand rank
13th

Legislative Corruption Score over time

  • Australia
  • New Zealand
0123182519252025

How they compare

New Zealand currently reports 1.89 against 1.72 in Australia, a difference of 0.17.

That makes New Zealand's figure about 1.1 times Australia's.

Across all 172 years both countries report, New Zealand has been ahead every year.

Australia ranks 16th and New Zealand ranks 13th of 174 countries.

New Zealand has averaged higher in every one of the 18 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Australia New Zealand Difference Ahead
1850s 1.09 2.02 0.931 New Zealand
1860s 1.09 2.02 0.931 New Zealand
1870s 1.09 2.02 0.931 New Zealand
1880s 1.09 2.02 0.931 New Zealand
1890s 1.09 2.02 0.931 New Zealand
1900s 1.54 2.02 0.48 New Zealand
1910s 1.54 2.38 0.8339 New Zealand
1920s 1.54 2.49 0.951 New Zealand
1930s 1.54 2.49 0.951 New Zealand
1940s 1.54 2.49 0.951 New Zealand
1950s 1.54 2.49 0.951 New Zealand
1960s 1.54 2.49 0.951 New Zealand
1970s 1.54 2.49 0.951 New Zealand
1980s 1.54 2.49 0.951 New Zealand
1990s 1.54 2.49 0.951 New Zealand
2000s 1.54 2.49 0.951 New Zealand
2010s 1.59 2.49 0.9049 New Zealand
2020s 1.72 2.43 0.7102 New Zealand

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher legislative corruption score, Australia or New Zealand?
New Zealand, at 1.89 against 1.72 in Australia as of 2025.
What is the difference in legislative corruption score between Australia and New Zealand?
0.17, with New Zealand ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and New Zealand?
172 years are reported by both, from 1853 to 2025.
How do Australia and New Zealand rank globally for legislative corruption score?
Australia ranks 16th and New Zealand ranks 13th of 174 countries.
Where does this data come from?
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Legislative Corruption Score. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Legislative Corruption Score
Source
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
174 places, 17,541 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Data by V-Dem. Expert estimates of the extent to which members of the legislature abuse their position for financial gain, such as bribes, government contracts, future employment, or stealing from the state. Higher scores mean less corruption. A score of 0 is approximately the average across all countries and years.