In spite of the fact that the total number of countries reviewed (194) has not changed since last year, this time a bigger amount of data was collected with regard to some of them due to the inclusion of new jurisdictions in the World Bank Enterprise Survey on the findings of which the index is also based.

Norway (the score of 7), Switzerland (10), Sweden (11), Denmark (12), Australia (13) and the United Kingdom (13) are at the top of the ranking, where 0 is the lowest level of corruption risks. It is for the first time that Australia is among the five leading countries, while the UK was in this cohort last time back in 2017.

North Korea (score of 92), Turkmenistan (88), Syria (86), Yemen (84) and Equatorial Guinea (84) are at the bottom.

Some countries have significantly improved their performance compared to last year. The Central African Republic for example has risen from the 180th to the 164th place in the ranking, Cambodia – from 184th to 170th, Bosnia and Herzegovina – from 113th to 91st, Chad – from 186th to 176th, Nepal – from 90th to 68th, Samoa – from 71st to 46th, Togo – from 149th to 128th, and Morocco – from 144th to 125th.

At the same time, considerable regress is registered in other countries. In particular, New Zealand has dropped from the 2nd to the 16th position, Lesotho – from 65th to 107th, Sudan – from 155th to 168th, Rwanda – from 97th to 127th, Afghanistan – from 176th to 186th, and Andorra – from 46th to 60th.

The Russian Federation has scored 66 (three points more than last year) being ranked 161st between Iraq and Algeria. It is ten positions lower than in 2023, 19 – if compared to 2022, and 27 than in 2021. The country has received the following scores under each indicator:

• The score of 58 under “Business interactions with government”, the same score as last year ;
• The score of 77 under “Anti-bribery deterrence and enforcement”, one point more than last year;
• The score of 62 under “Government and civil service transparency”, three points more than last year;
• The score of 76 under “Capacity and civil society oversight”, eight points more than in 2023.

*The TRACE Matrix index was developed in 2014 by TRACE International in cooperation with RAND Corporation, a US analytical centre, and allows companies to assess the risk of encountering corruption in their business activities in a specific country. The index is calculated with the use of the data published by leading public and international organisations, including the United Nations, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum and is issued annually.