Islamic Emirate Rejects 2025 Corruption Index, Cites Decline in Corruption

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, in response to Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index report, described the assessments as estimations and emphasized that the level of corruption has significantly decreased compared to the past.

The deputy spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate added that the administration has taken serious steps to prevent corruption and ensure transparency.

Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate, said: “The Islamic Emirate has taken important steps toward ensuring transparency and eliminating administrative corruption. Administrative corruption no longer exists as it did in the past and has significantly decreased. There have been good achievements in this area. Unfortunately, some organizations that do not even have a presence in Afghanistan make estimative judgments instead of conducting accurate field assessments, which is not precise. We want them to come and see how much effective and impactful work the Islamic Emirate has done to simplify administrative procedures, eliminate corruption, and ensure transparency.”

Earlier, Transparency International, in its latest 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index report, announced that Afghanistan, with a score of 16, ranks 169th, placing it among the countries with the highest perceived levels of corruption in the public sector.

The overall trend from 2015 to the present shows fluctuations.

Afghanistan’s scores and global rankings in recent years, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index, are as follows:

Year – Score – Global Rank
2015 – 11 – 166
2016 – 15 – 169
2017 – 15 – 177
2018 – 16 – 172
2019 – 16 – 173
2020 – 19 – 165
2021 – 16 – 174
2022 – 24 – 150
2023 – 20 – 162
2024 – 17 – 165
2025 – 16 – 169

Some experts believe that such organizations should avoid unfounded judgments and instead conduct field research inside the country to obtain reliable information.

Seiar Quraishi, an economic analyst, said: “In Afghanistan now, not even five percent corruption remains. The world has also realized that there is no corruption in Afghanistan, and the Afghan administration is the only transparent administration, with no corruption issues in any sector.”

Another economic analyst, Shamsur Rahman Ahmadzai, said: “The greater the accountability and transparency, the stronger decision-making can be and the more positive the outcomes. Good governance can only endure through law, transparency, oversight, and accountability.”

In another part of its report, Transparency International also stated that corruption is increasing globally, and even countries with established democracies are witnessing a rise in this phenomenon due to declining leadership quality.