Yasir Khan
There is a familiar reflex in Pakistan to greet every global ranking with either indignation or despair, to treat incremental progress as cosmetic and structural weakness as destiny. Yet the release of Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2025 invites a more measured, forward-looking interpretation-one that neither romanticises the present nor discounts the significance of steady movement in a difficult global climate.
Pakistan’s score of 28 out of 100, an improvement of one point over last year’s 27, places it at 136th out of 182 countries, a marginal shift in rank but a meaningful signal of directional stability, particularly when viewed against the broader trajectory since 2021, when the country stood at 140th; over four years, Pakistan has edged upward rather than slipping backward, and in a global environment where governance metrics in many regions have stagnated or deteriorated, the avoidance of decline should be read not as complacency but as resilience taking institutional root.
The CPI, often invoked as a verdict, is more accurately understood as an aggregation of perceptions drawn from expert surveys and international business assessments, relying on external indicators-among them inputs associated with the World Economic Forum and the World Justice Project-where Pakistan is assessed on eight of the thirteen global benchmarks used to compute the index; it measures how corruption is perceived in the public sector, not how many bribes were actually paid on a Tuesday afternoon in a district office, and that distinction, while technical, carries policy implications of enormous consequence.
Perception, in governance economics, is neither superficial nor trivial, because it influences sovereign credit ratings, shapes the compliance behaviour of multinational firms, and conditions the appetite of investors who price risk not merely on statutes and reforms but on reputational cues; yet perception also lives in the realm of narrative, and narrative in Pakistan has long been crowded with political spectacle, adversarial rhetoric, courtroom drama and a media ecosystem where accusation travels faster than acquittal, thereby reinforcing impressions abroad that often lag or obscure incremental administrative reform occurring in less theatrical corners of the state.
Domestic evidence over the past year complicates the picture in ways that encourage cautious optimism. Transparency International Pakistan’s own national survey, conducted with approximately 4,000 respondents, reported that two-thirds of Pakistanis did not encounter a situation in which they were compelled to offer a bribe to access public services, and that public perceptions of certain institutions, including segments of the police, recorded measurable improvement; separately, a survey released by FPCCI with a sample size of around 6,000 respondents suggested that 67 percent of participants had not personally experienced malpractice in their dealings with government bodies, that 95 percent had not directly witnessed illegal enrichment, and that 76 percent had not confronted nepotism in their own interactions.
These statistics do not negate corruption; rather, they reveal a widening gap between systemic suspicion and individual experience, between what citizens believe about governance in the abstract and what they encounter in daily transactions, and in an era shaped by social media amplification-where outrage is monetised and institutional progress rarely trends-such divergence is unsurprising; expectations have risen dramatically, shaped by global comparison and digital exposure, while institutional capacity evolves at a slower, bureaucratic pace that seldom produces headlines.
There are, however, structural shifts underway that lend credibility to the argument that incremental progress is real rather than rhetorical. Digitisation across tax administration, licensing systems, land records management and procurement processes has reduced discretionary interfaces that historically created opportunities for rent extraction; online complaint portals and automated payment mechanisms narrow the space for informal facilitation; procurement transparency frameworks, though imperfect, have increased documentation trails; and renegotiations in key sectors have signalled a policy intent to limit leakages that once operated as structural drains on the public purse. None of these reforms is dramatic in isolation, but cumulatively they contribute to a governance architecture less reliant on personal discretion and more anchored in process.
The regional landscape further contextualises Pakistan’s CPI position. Afghanistan remains near the bottom of the index with a score of 16 and a rank of 169, reflecting how prolonged instability, weakened oversight structures, and chronic insecurity erode governance from within. Meanwhile, Pakistan confronts security, fiscal and political pressures of its own; it nevertheless retains functioning accountability institutions, an active media environment, and a judicial system that-however contested-remains operational. The contrast is not an invitation to complacency; it is a reminder that institutional continuity itself constitutes a platform for reform.
The data indicate that Pakistan is not in free fall. It suggests that gradual reforms may be beginning to temper negative perceptions. It highlights, above all, a trust deficit that can be narrowed through sustained transparency, public communication of measurable outcomes, and consistent enforcement that avoids the appearance of selectivity.
Optimism, in governance terms, must be earned through accumulation rather than declaration. A country that has moved from 140th to 136th over four years, that has improved its score incrementally, and that has maintained position in a volatile global environment is demonstrating trajectory, however modest. If that trajectory is reinforced by deeper institutional reforms, broader digitisation, transparent oversight and credible enforcement insulated from political cycles, perception will eventually recalibrate to reflect performance. For now, the CPI 2025 result signals a country that is holding steady while laying incremental foundations. In a world marked by disorder and democratic strain, steady upward drift is not a footnote; it is an opportunity. The challenge ahead is to convert incremental resilience into sustained credibility and cautious optimism into durable institutional confidence.
The writer is a freelance columnist.
