Transparency International seeks to provide reliable quantitative diagnostic tools regarding levels of transparency and corruption, both at global and local levels.

The annual TI Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), first released in 1995, is the best known of TI’s tools. It has been widely credited for putting TI and the issue of corruption on the international policy agenda. The CPI ranks more than 150 countries in terms of perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys.

In recent years, TI has sought to develop other corruption measurement tools to complement the CPI. The Bribe Payers’ Index (BPI) assesses the supply side of corruption and ranks corruption by source country and industry sector. The Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) is a public opinion survey that assesses the general public’s perception and experience of corruption in more than 60 countries around the world.

Policy and Research

TI’s policy and research work rigorously analyses the many aspects of corruption and searches for practical actions to combat it – globally, nationally and locally. In-depth qualitative and quantitative research is based around the organisation’s five global priorities.

The Policy and Research Department strategically leads TI’s work in this area. It focuses on generating new insights and perspectives into corruption through original and high-quality knowledge products: surveys and indices, global reports, country studies, toolkits, working papers and policy positions, and expert briefs/answers. These are produced in collaboration with the broader anti-corruption movement and used by a wide variety of stakeholders – from policy-makers and citizens, to companies and the media.