Political corruption index in South Africa
South Africa: Political corruption index was 0.538 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Political corruption index in South Africa, 1900–2025
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for political corruption index in South Africa is 0.538, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.
The figure is up 4.1% on the previous year and up 9.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political corruption index in South Africa peaked at 0.538 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0.389, in 1994.
That places South Africa 86th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.422 | 0.422 | 0.422 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.422 | 0.422 | 0.422 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.422 | 0.422 | 0.422 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.422 | 0.422 | 0.422 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.4232 | 0.422 | 0.428 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.428 | 0.428 | 0.428 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.428 | 0.428 | 0.428 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.4419 | 0.441 | 0.444 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.441 | 0.441 | 0.441 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.4149 | 0.389 | 0.441 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.4332 | 0.416 | 0.475 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.4869 | 0.461 | 0.503 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.4858 | 0.426 | 0.538 | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
- 83 Nepal 0.561 compare
- 84 China (People’s Republic of) 0.554 compare
- 84 Eswatini, Kingdom of 0.554 compare
- 87 Ethiopia, The Federal Democratic Republic of 0.529 compare
- 88 Guyana 0.507 compare
- 89 Hungary 0.488 compare
More social development data for South Africa
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 55,177 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 1,319 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh 2 (2025)
- Democracy lexical 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 2 (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 1,319 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0009 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 political corruption index in South Africa?
- Political corruption index in South Africa was 0.538 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political corruption index recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.538 in 2025.
- What is the lowest political corruption index recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.389 in 1994.
- How does South Africa rank for political corruption index?
- South Africa ranks 86th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political corruption index rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Political corruption index. 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).