Public Sector Corruption Index in Democratic Republic of Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo: Public Sector Corruption Index was 0.844 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
0.844
Change on year
down 3.5%
World rank
26th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.95
in 2018
All-time low
0.297
in 1920
Years of data
126
1900–2025

Public Sector Corruption Index in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1900–2025

0.20.40.60.81190019622025

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for public sector corruption index in Democratic Republic of Congo is 0.844, measured in 2025.

The figure is down 3.5% on the previous year and down 9.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, public sector corruption index in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 0.95 in 2018 and was at its lowest, 0.297, in 1920.

Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 26th of 176 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1900s 0.428 0.428 0.428 10
1910s 0.428 0.428 0.428 10
1920s 0.297 0.297 0.297 10
1930s 0.297 0.297 0.297 10
1940s 0.297 0.297 0.297 10
1950s 0.297 0.297 0.297 10
1960s 0.6874 0.598 0.787 10
1970s 0.8224 0.787 0.846 10
1980s 0.915 0.915 0.915 10
1990s 0.915 0.915 0.915 10
2000s 0.9074 0.896 0.915 10
2010s 0.9212 0.885 0.95 10
2020s 0.8737 0.844 0.92 6

Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo

  1. 23 Cambodia 0.861 compare
  2. 24 Lebanon 0.86 compare
  3. 25 Zimbabwe 0.857 compare
  4. 27 Liberia 0.84 compare
  5. 28 Myanmar 0.839 compare
  6. 29 Mongolia 0.819 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for Democratic Republic of Congo

All data for Democratic Republic of Congo →

Frequently asked questions

What is public sector corruption index in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Public sector corruption index in Democratic Republic of Congo was 0.844 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest public sector corruption index recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The highest recorded value was 0.95 in 2018.
What is the lowest public sector corruption index recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The lowest recorded value was 0.297 in 1920.
How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for public sector corruption index?
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 26th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is public sector corruption index rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Over the last ten years it is down 9.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo data come from?
The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Public Sector 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).

About this data

Indicator
Public Sector Corruption Index
Source
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 25,541 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Data by V-Dem. Expert estimates of the extent to which public sector employees engage in bribery and theft. The index ranges from 0 to 1 (highly corrupt).