Mexico recorded its worst score ever on Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and in so doing fell 14 spots to a ranking of 140 out of 180 nations surveyed.
Transparency International released its annual CPI survey on Tuesday, based on interviews of financial risk analysts, businessmen and academics, plus 13 different corruption surveys and assessments, as well as data sources that included the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.
The survey refers to the 2024 calendar year featuring the final nine months of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s six-year term and the first three months of the current Claudia Sheinbaum administration.
The findings suggest that López Obrador’s Inauguration Day promise to end corruption and improve its CPI ranking went unfulfilled. Not only did Mexico tumble in the rankings this year (to two spots below where it stood when López Obrador took office), but its points total also fell under 30 for the first time since 2019.
Transparency Mexicana, the group’s office in Mexico, said the results demonstrate the uncertainty surrounding reforms to the country’s judicial system and to the Public Information and Data Protection Institute (INAI). Other concerns include impunity linked to major scandals, including the Odebrecht, Pemex Agronitrogenados and Segalmex scandals.
The report also cited a lack of accountability related to government audits that find discrepancies, and a rise in corruption cases linking state governments to organized crime.
Other findings reveal that 44% of those surveyed believed corruption in Mexico increased in 2024. Another 34% admitted that they had acquiesced to a payoff or bribe request from a public employee during the same time period.
Earning 26 out of a possible 100 points, Mexico fared poorly in comparison to its principal economic competitors in Latin America, namely Brazil and Chile. Brazil, with a score of 34, ranks No. 107, while Chile’s 63 points has it perched at No. 32.
Mexico also sits in last place among the 38 nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and graded better than only Russia among the G20 nations.
At the same time, the United States received its worst CPI score since the current index was established in 2012, scoring 65 points to land in 28th place.
The U.S. joined Mexico as one of 47 countries to receive its lowest score ever.
The factors that contributed to the U.S. decline are not made clear, but Transparency International noted that corruption is fueling environmental crime and impunity across the Americas.
The watchdog group said that two of the biggest challenges humanity now faces are strongly intertwined: corruption and the climate crisis.
With reports from Animal Político, Milenio and Axios
