Nigeria has been ranked 140th out of 180 most corrupt countries in the world according to Transparency international.

The organisation in a statement on February 11, 2025, on its official website ranked Africa’s most populous nation the 140th most corrupt country in the world, with a 26 out 100 score rate.

The new ranking by TI showed a slight improvement in the previous year when the country ranked 145 with a score of 25. Despite this improvement, the country’s corruption score of 26 still fell well below the global average of 43, indicating persistent challenges in governance and accountability that keep it among the most corrupt nations globally.

The Index published on Tuesday measures perceived corruption levels of the public sector on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 indicated high levels of corruption and 100 meant clean.

Corruption as bribery, diversion of public funds, misuse of public office for personal gain, and the inability of governments to contain corruption are highlighted as defining factors and practices such as nepotistic appointments in the civil service, lack of financial disclosure by public officials, and insufficient protection for whistleblowers as contributing factors.

Nigeria’s worst ranking was in 2021, where the country was placed 154th, with its best performance in 2015 at 136th.

François Valérian, Transparency International’s chair, on his X platform described corruption as a “dangerous problem” worldwide, stressing that while some countries have made progress, much remains to be done.