How corrupt is Ukraine
Executive summary
Ukraine is widely perceived as a country with significant public‑sector corruption: Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) places Ukraine near the middle of the global pack with a score around the mid‑30s and a rank roughly 104–105 out of 180 countries, which signals persistent problems but also recent improvement trends [1] [2] [3]. At the same time, multiple expert sources document real anti‑corruption reforms and measurable gains over the last decade, and the picture is complicated by perception‑based metrics, wartime disruptions and competing political narratives [4] [5] [6].
1. How corrupt is Ukraine by the headline numbers
Measured by Transparency International’s CPI — the most commonly cited cross‑country yardstick — Ukraine scored roughly 35–36 out of 100 in 2023–2024 and ranked about 104th–105th of 180 countries, a position that indicates more corruption than the global average but meaningful gains compared with the 2010s [1] [2] [3]. Alternative indices and conversions produce slightly different values — for example World Economics’ conversion gives a lower number and other services list ranks in the low‑100s — but they corroborate the broad conclusion that Ukraine is neither among the world’s cleanest states nor among its very worst [7] [8].
2. Where corruption shows up in practice
Analysts and reporting identify the most common forms as bribery, political patronage, judicial corruption and irregularities in public procurement and public‑sector administration, all longstanding features that fuel public distrust and economic drag [9] [10]. Transparency‑style CPI and related national barometers focus on the public sector, so fraud in public procurement, discretionary licensing and influence over courts and regulators figure centrally in both perception studies and domestic criticisms [6] [9].
3. Trends: real reforms and incremental improvement
Despite entrenched problems, Ukraine has recorded more than a decade of steady CPI improvement driven by reforms that created new anti‑corruption institutions, greater investigative reporting and civic pressure; Transparency International and other analysts note eleven years of rising scores before some fluctuation in 2024 [4] [5] [3]. ForeignPolicy and the Wilson Center emphasize that while progress is real — and Ukraine ranks ahead of Russia on several rule‑of‑law measures — reforms have been uneven, political backsliding and selective implementation remain risks, and perception metrics can be skewed by the intensity of public debate about corruption [5] [10].
4. How the war and international aid complicate measurement and risk
The Russian invasion and martial‑law conditions have both constrained transparency mechanisms (for example limiting access to some public registers) and increased the volume of discretionary spending and foreign aid, creating new corruption risks even as authorities pursue anti‑corruption measures; analysts warn that wartime pressures can both hide wrongdoing and prompt urgent procurement that is vulnerable to abuse [11] [12]. TI‑Ukraine explicitly notes that many fall‑2024 events were not captured in the 2024 CPI window and that recent policy choices could push perceptions in either direction, underscoring measurement lags and risk from non‑transparent emergency contracting [12].
5. Comparative perspective and political uses of corruption claims
Ukraine’s corruption score places it below the regional average for Eastern Europe and Central Asia but considerably ahead of Russia and some neighbors on rule‑of‑law rankings; this relative position is used by both supporters and critics of Western assistance — supporters point to reform momentum, critics emphasize persistent problems and occasional backsliding [13] [10]. Perception indices are inherently shaped by media attention, civic activism and political framing, meaning that a country undergoing intense reform debates can register high perceived corruption even as legal and institutional capacity improves [6] [5].
6. Bottom line — a balanced verdict and limits of the evidence
Ukraine remains a country with significant public‑sector corruption risks — reflected in CPI scores in the mid‑30s and a rank around 104–105 — but it is also a country where sustained reform efforts, civic pressure and measurable improvements over more than a decade have moved the needle, creating a mixed picture of improvement amid vulnerability, especially during wartime [1] [4] [5]. Existing public indices measure perceptions and institutional indicators rather than a definitive “amount” of corruption, and recent events and wartime dynamics mean some corruption trends may not yet be fully captured in available data [6] [12].