Statizoid

Political Corruption Index in China

China: Political Corruption Index was 0.554 in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
0.554
Change on year
up 0.7%
World rank
84th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.937
in 1863
All-time low
0.231
in 1954
Years of data
237
1789–2025

Political Corruption Index in China, 1789–2025

0.20.40.60.81178919072025

Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

China recorded 0.554 for political corruption index in 2025.

That represents a change of up 0.7% on the previous year and up 15.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, political corruption index in China peaked at 0.937 in 1863 and was at its lowest, 0.231, in 1954.

That places China 84th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 237 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1780s 0.925 0.925 0.925 1
1790s 0.925 0.925 0.925 10
1800s 0.925 0.925 0.925 10
1810s 0.925 0.925 0.925 10
1820s 0.925 0.925 0.925 10
1830s 0.925 0.925 0.925 10
1840s 0.925 0.925 0.925 10
1850s 0.925 0.925 0.925 10
1860s 0.9334 0.925 0.937 10
1870s 0.937 0.937 0.937 10
1880s 0.937 0.937 0.937 10
1890s 0.937 0.937 0.937 10
1900s 0.937 0.937 0.937 10
1910s 0.8585 0.718 0.937 10
1920s 0.8228 0.731 0.867 10
1930s 0.752 0.752 0.752 10
1940s 0.7578 0.561 0.813 10
1950s 0.2633 0.231 0.304 10
1960s 0.2554 0.25 0.27 10
1970s 0.2791 0.27 0.322 10
1980s 0.4546 0.413 0.475 10
1990s 0.5565 0.512 0.589 10
2000s 0.5736 0.547 0.597 10
2010s 0.4988 0.463 0.549 10
2020s 0.5023 0.455 0.554 6

Countries ranked near China

  1. 81 Angola 0.57 compare
  2. 82 Kenya 0.564 compare
  3. 83 Nepal 0.561 compare
  4. 84 Eswatini 0.554 compare
  5. 86 South Africa 0.538 compare
  6. 87 Ethiopia 0.529 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for China

All data for China →

Frequently asked questions

What is political corruption index in China?
Political corruption index in China was 0.554 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest political corruption index recorded in China?
The highest recorded value was 0.937 in 1863.
What is the lowest political corruption index recorded in China?
The lowest recorded value was 0.231 in 1954.
How does China rank for political corruption index?
China ranks 84th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is political corruption index rising or falling in China?
Over the last ten years it is up 15.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this China data come from?
The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Political Corruption Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 237 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Political Corruption Index
Source
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 25,295 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Central estimate of the extent to which a country is affected by political corruption.