Public sector corruption index in South Africa
South Africa: Public sector corruption index was 0.755 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Public sector corruption index in South Africa, 1900–2025
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 0.755 for public sector corruption index in 2025. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.5% on the previous year and up 15.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public sector corruption index in South Africa peaked at 0.755 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0.486, in 1994.
That places South Africa 39th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.525 | 0.525 | 0.525 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.525 | 0.525 | 0.525 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.525 | 0.525 | 0.525 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.525 | 0.525 | 0.525 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.525 | 0.525 | 0.525 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.525 | 0.525 | 0.525 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.525 | 0.525 | 0.525 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.525 | 0.525 | 0.525 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.525 | 0.525 | 0.525 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.5016 | 0.486 | 0.525 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.5254 | 0.486 | 0.62 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.6565 | 0.628 | 0.713 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.6947 | 0.607 | 0.755 | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
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)
- Human rights index vs electoral democracy index 0.857 (2025)
- Liberal democracy index 0.633 (2025)
- Electoral democracy index 0.743 (2025)
- Freedom of association index 0.87 (2025)
- Freedom of expression index 0.837 (2025)
- Participatory democracy index 0.47 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is public sector corruption index in South Africa?
- Public sector corruption index in South Africa was 0.755 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest public sector corruption index recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.755 in 2025.
- What is the lowest public sector corruption index recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.486 in 1994.
- How does South Africa rank for public sector corruption index?
- South Africa ranks 39th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is public sector corruption index rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.4%. 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 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).