Legislative Corruption Score in Iceland
Iceland: Legislative Corruption Score was 2.31 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Legislative Corruption Score in Iceland, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Iceland recorded 2.31 for legislative corruption score in 2025. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, legislative corruption score in Iceland peaked at 2.31 in 1987 and was at its lowest, 1.85, in 1900.
That places Iceland 7th out of 174 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Legislative Corruption Score in Iceland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 1.85 | — |
| 1901 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1910 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1911 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1913 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1920 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1921 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1925 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1941 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1943 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1945 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1946 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1947 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1948 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1949 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1951 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1953 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1955 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1961 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 1.85 | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 2.31 | +25.2% |
| 1988 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 2.31 | +0.0% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 2.31 is above the median for high income countries, which is 1.22, 1.9× the median. (55 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 2.31 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.824, 2.8× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 1.85 | 1.85 | 1.85 | 10 |
| 1910s | 1.85 | 1.85 | 1.85 | 10 |
| 1920s | 1.85 | 1.85 | 1.85 | 10 |
| 1930s | 1.85 | 1.85 | 1.85 | 10 |
| 1940s | 1.85 | 1.85 | 1.85 | 10 |
| 1950s | 1.85 | 1.85 | 1.85 | 10 |
| 1960s | 1.85 | 1.85 | 1.85 | 10 |
| 1970s | 1.85 | 1.85 | 1.85 | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.99 | 1.85 | 2.31 | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.31 | 2.31 | 2.31 | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.31 | 2.31 | 2.31 | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.31 | 2.31 | 2.31 | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.31 | 2.31 | 2.31 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
- 5 Singapore 2.86 compare
- 6 United Arab Emirates 2.37 compare
- 8 Estonia 2.19 compare
- 9 Uruguay 2.13 compare
- 10 Netherlands 2.05 compare
More social development data for Iceland
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 8,459 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0216 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is legislative corruption score in Iceland?
- Legislative corruption score in Iceland was 2.31 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest legislative corruption score recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 2.31 in 1987.
- What is the lowest legislative corruption score recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.85 in 1900.
- How does Iceland rank for legislative corruption score?
- Iceland ranks 7th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
- Is legislative corruption score rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland data come from?
- The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Legislative Corruption Score. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
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.