Public Sector Corruption Index in Malaysia

Malaysia: Public Sector Corruption Index was 0.236 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
0.236
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
120th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.628
in 2003
All-time low
0.213
in 1955
Years of data
126
1900–2025

Public Sector Corruption Index in Malaysia, 1900–2025

0.20.30.40.50.6190019622025

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

Analysis

In 2025, public sector corruption index in Malaysia stood at 0.236.

The figure is down 54.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, public sector corruption index in Malaysia peaked at 0.628 in 2003 and was at its lowest, 0.213, in 1955.

Malaysia ranks 120th of 176 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1900s 0.221 0.221 0.221 10
1910s 0.221 0.221 0.221 10
1920s 0.221 0.221 0.221 10
1930s 0.221 0.221 0.221 10
1940s 0.3982 0.223 0.612 10
1950s 0.2403 0.213 0.308 10
1960s 0.308 0.308 0.308 10
1970s 0.4354 0.413 0.441 10
1980s 0.5413 0.441 0.558 10
1990s 0.558 0.558 0.558 10
2000s 0.6009 0.558 0.628 10
2010s 0.4888 0.306 0.605 10
2020s 0.279 0.236 0.343 6

Countries ranked near Malaysia

  1. 117 Peru 0.243 compare
  2. 118 Brazil 0.242 compare
  3. 119 Tanzania 0.24 compare
  4. 121 Georgia 0.235 compare
  5. 122 East Timor 0.233 compare
  6. 123 Suriname 0.221 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for Malaysia

All data for Malaysia →

Frequently asked questions

What is public sector corruption index in Malaysia?
Public sector corruption index in Malaysia was 0.236 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest public sector corruption index recorded in Malaysia?
The highest recorded value was 0.628 in 2003.
What is the lowest public sector corruption index recorded in Malaysia?
The lowest recorded value was 0.213 in 1955.
How does Malaysia rank for public sector corruption index?
Malaysia ranks 120th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is public sector corruption index rising or falling in Malaysia?
Over the last ten years it is down 54.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Malaysia 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).