Wellington, 10 February 2026 — New
Zealand’s declining Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)
score signals growing risks to the country’s democratic
integrity and global reputation.
New Zealand’s CPI
score has fallen by two points for the fourth consecutive
year—a 10% drop overall. While we still rank equal fourth
with Norway, this continued slide reflects diminishing
confidence among business experts and international
assessors in the integrity of the public
sector.
“Transparency, integrity and
accountability are cornerstones of our democracy,”
says Anne Tolley, Chair of TINZ. “We are seeing these
values being chipped away.”
Over the past year,
prosecutions involving bribery, deception, and misuse of
public funds and power—including bid-rigging, cartel
behaviour, driver licensing rorts and COVID-related
fraud—have highlighted systemic weaknesses and a troubling
disregard for both public money and integrity in
general.
The just published pilot report from the Anti-Corruption
Taskforce validates the expert perceptions in the CPI.
It finds that internal fraud and corruption are almost
certainly being under-reported and the true scale of the
issue remains unclear, but what is reported in this pilot is
alarming.
TINZ is also concerned by allegations
affecting the integrity of voting processes in both local
and national elections—issues that strike at the core of
democratic trust.
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“An additional major concern is
the lack of transparency around lobbying and political
donations,” Tolley says. “Voters have little
visibility of who is influencing political decision-making.
At the same time, some businesses continue to operate in the
shadows, enabling money laundering and tax evasion.
Investigative agencies remain hampered by reduced resources
and inadequate legislative tools.”
This year’s
CPI decline is driven by surveys assessing bribery and
corruption risks in trade, public contracting, licensing,
judicial decision-making, and the diversion of public funds
for private gain.
While government agencies have
strengthened some accountability measures and improved
cross-agency collaboration, corruption is a broader and more
complex problem. It requires cohesive action and clear
strategic direction from central and local government,
supported by business and civil society.”
In 2025,
expert advisors informed Police Minister Costello that New
Zealand remains the only Five Eyes country without a
whole-of-government national anti-corruption strategy. This
absence has created a significant gap in the country’s
capacity to prevent, detect, and respond effectively to
corruption risks in both the public and private
sectors.
What Is Needed
TINZ calls
for:
- A comprehensive national anti-corruption
strategy - Stronger transparency through lobbying
regulation and timely disclosure of political
donations - Enhanced oversight to safeguard voting and
electoral processes
“We understand that
economic growth is a priority for the current
Government,” Tolley says. “But a sound economy is
inseparable from a robust democracy.”
“In
an election year, people need to know who is driving policy
change and have fair opportunities to participate in
decision-making. We need real consequences for those who
abuse our financial and political systems, and agencies with
the leadership and capacity to reverse the troubling trends
of bribery, fraud, kickbacks, and secret
deals.”
………………………………………….
How
Well Do We Counter Corruption?
In 2024 TINZ
commissioned a research report to consider the concepts and
measures of corruption and whether perceptions match with
reality in New Zealand. This looked at changing threats, as
well as progress against past assessments and sought the
opinions of experts to be able to comment on the
effectiveness of core anti corruption
institutions.
The results of this effort produced the
research report: An
assessment of the effectiveness of anti-corruption
institutions in New Zealand in deterring, detecting and
exposing corruption. This research forms part of our
National Integrity System Assessment work
programme.
Background to the Corruption Perceptions
Index
The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is the
leading global indicator of public sector corruption. It is
a composite index, drawing from 13 reputable
surveys/assessments, eight of which encompass New
Zealand.
The index scores 180 countries and
territories based on expert perceptions of corruption in the
form of bribery; diversion of public funds; officials using
their public office for private gain without facing
consequences; the ability of governments to contain
corruption in the public sector; excessive red tape;
nepotistic civil service appointments; conflict of interest
of public officials; legal protection for whistleblowers,
state capture by narrow vested interests, and access to
information on public affairs/government
activities.
The process for calculating the CPI is
regularly reviewed to make sure it is as robust and coherent
as possible, most recently by the European Commission’s
Joint Research Centre in 2017.
All the CPI scores
since 2012 are comparable from one year to the next. For
more information, see this article: The
ABCs of the CPI: How the Corruption Perceptions Index is
calculated.
About Transparency
International
Transparency International is a global
civil society coalition based in Berlin, leading the fight
against corruption. It compiles a number of measures of
different aspects of corruption including the Corruption
Perceptions Index, the Global Corruption Barometer, and the
Bribe Payers Index. Information on Transparency
International can be found at www.transparency.org.
About
the New Zealand chapter of Transparency
International
The New Zealand chapter of Transparency
International works to actively promote the highest levels
of transparency, accountability, integrity and public
participation in government and civil society in New Zealand
and the Pacific Islands. Find TINZ at www.transparency.org.nz.
Transparency
International New Zealand has programmes and projects
designed to support greater integrity. These can be viewed
in our Annual
Report.
