France reached a historic low in the global corruption perception index published Tuesday by Transparency International. A score which can be explained in particular by scandals involving former President Nicolas Sarkozy and the RN presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen. However, the case of France is far from isolated.

Published on: 02/10/2026 - 9:09 p.m. Modified on: 02/10/2026 - 9:46 p.m.

The anti-corruption NGO Transparency International warned on Tuesday, February 10, of the worsening of corruption in democracies around the world, giving the United States its worst score so far calculated and demoting France to 27th position, its historic lowest, behind Uruguay or the United Arab Emirates.

The Corruption Perception Index is compiled by experts and businesspeople who rank 182 countries based on their perceived level of corruption in the public sector, based on data from institutions such as the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

Countries receive a score between zero, for those considered very corrupt, and 100, for the most virtuous. In the 2025 edition released on Tuesday, Denmark takes first place with 89 points and South Sudan brings up the rear with a score of 9.

On the other hand, France obtained a score of 66 points, one point less than in 2024, and fell to 27th place in the general ranking, its worst result since the creation of the index in 1995 and the implementation of its current methodology in 2012.

This poor score follows three high-profile corruption cases that made French headlines last year.

A Senate report, released in May, also revealed that the government covered up consumer fraud committed by food giant Nestlé, allowing the company to use banned treatments to produce natural mineral waters, including Perrier.

Former President Nicolas Sarkozy was jailed for 20 days in October after being convicted of illegally soliciting funds from former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to finance his successful 2007 presidential campaign.

And, in a case still before the courts, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and other members of her party, the National Rally, were found guilty in March of embezzling funds from the European Parliament.

Read alsoThe essentials of Marine Le Pen's appeal trial: "A questioning of the facade"

“No political leadership”

These high-profile cases have “contributed to the deterioration of the perception of corruption”, analyzes Florent Clouet, general director of Transparency International France.

But beyond these scandals, the organization has identified several key factors in France which have reinforced this deterioration.

“The most important problem, in our opinion, is the lack of will: there is absolutely no political leadership in the fight against corruption,” believes Florent Clouet.

A recent plan to strengthen anti-corruption measures was neither supported by any MP nor presented to the Council of Ministers, and accusations of corruption within the government itself appear increasingly common.

The current Minister of Culture and candidate for Paris mayor, Rachida Dati, is the latest in a series of serving ministers facing corruption accusations.

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Added to this lack of political will is the lack of resources allocated to investigative and prosecution bodies, contributing to the poor rating received by France.

The national financial prosecutor's office is thus overwhelmed, affirms Florent Clouet, "each pair of magistrates handling 80 cases, while the initial plan provided for them to handle eight".

Another black spot: the chronic shortage of personnel in the main financial investigation agencies, the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offenses and the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life.

“As a result, we find ourselves in a situation where, fundamentally, these agencies are incapable of carrying out the missions for which they were created,” judges Florent Clouet.

In April, the president of the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life called on the government to increase its budget, saying that of the 13,000 declarations made by civil servants in 2024, it only had the capacity to verify 5,000.

While these organizations were created to monitor senior civil servants and public officials, another problem is the lack of oversight at lower levels of administration.

“It is very difficult to detect and fight against what we call low-intensity corruption, which involves relatively modest sums of money and escapes prevention and detection mechanisms,” explains Florent Clouet.

Stagnation in Europe

Transparency International believes that the problems encountered in France are part of a “worrying trend” of “decline in scores in traditionally successful democracies”, notably in Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Globally, more than two-thirds of countries surveyed scored below 50 and "the vast majority of countries fail to control corruption," the report said.

Over the past decade, progress has "stagnated" in Western Europe and "deteriorated" in the United States, which reached a new low of 64, the report adds.

Indeed, US President Donald Trump's dismantling of decades-old anti-corruption measures appears to have prompted other countries to relax their own laws.

“In the current geopolitical climate, Europe should strengthen, not weaken, its ambitions in the fight against corruption. Corruption is not inevitable,” insists Flora Cresswell, regional advisor for Western Europe at Transparency International.

But "that's not what's happening. Europe tends to follow the example of the United States," laments Florent Clouet.

The deterioration of the perception of corruption nevertheless has serious consequences, concludes the expert, pushing disillusioned citizens to "abstain from all political participation" and fueling "social anger, which can fuel illiberal political forces. In all cases, it is democracy which loses".

Article adapted from English by Grégoire Sauvage. The original can be found here.

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