Title page 1

Contents 6

Foreword 4

Acknowledgements 5

Executive summary 10

1. OVERVIEW 15

The integrity advantage 15

Countries continue to invest in integrity, but reforms are not always improving quality and the implementation gap persists 16

High-performing countries move from a rules-based to a risk-based, results-oriented and digital approach 20

Greater uptake of technology and better-quality data can help government "do more with less" 21

National integrity systems can be strengthened to better withstand corruption risks 21

Fraud prevention efforts, integrity controls in public procurement and protecting public bodies from organised crime should be stepped up 22

How to read the 2026 OECD Anti-Corruption and Integrity Outlook 23

Note 25

2. STRATEGY 27

Introduction 28

More countries are adopting first-generation strategies, but periods of strategic vacuum undermine progress 28

The design and implementation of strategies could generally be strengthened, but have improved for OECD Member countries that... 31

Well-designed strategies tend to have better implementation rates, but only 1 in 4 OECD Member countries track implementation in practice 33

Strategic frameworks still rarely target high-risk areas, including the private sector 34

Less than half of countries make use of outcome-level indicators and evaluation to demonstrate the concrete advantages of integrity improvements 36

Note 38

3. LOBBYING 40

Introduction 41

Despite wider adoption of regulatory frameworks specific to lobbying, lobbying remains among the least regulated public integrity areas across... 41

Lobbying registers and other transparency measures continue to provide only limited effective transparency, reflecting persistent implementation challenges 48

Countries with lobbying registers generally have enforcement and compliance mechanisms in place, but stronger monitoring remains essential 52

Note 53

4. CONFLICT OF INTEREST 55

Introduction 56

While conflict-of-interest regulations are generally strong, the implementation gap for conflict of interest persists for OECD Members and... 56

Authorities in many countries could improve monitoring of whether officials in at-risk positions are disclosing their interests and/or assets 58

To strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of conflict-of-interest safeguards, countries can take a more risk-based approach for verification... 60

While most countries have rules on revolving door they could be more consistently tracked to better mitigate conflict-of-interests risks 61

5. POLITICAL FINANCING 65

Introduction 66

Many countries have strong regulations in place, but a significant implementation gap persists in countries' political financing systems 66

Most countries have strong political financing reporting and transparency requirements, but political parties could better observe them 69

Political financing supervisory bodies could make better use of certified auditors in the oversight of parties' accounts 72

Digitalisation and globalisation are changing and complicating political financing and campaigning faster than regulations are adapting 73

6. TRANSPARENCY OF PUBLIC INFORMATION 77

Introduction 78

Government transparency remains consistently high but could still improve, particularly in OECD partner countries 78

Countries' transparency regulations contain many standard requirements, but for many countries data are still not open by default 80

Data or information related to integrity remain less frequently published 81

Transparency could be further enhanced if supervisory bodies conducted inspections, issued sanctions and reported on their activities 82

Notes 84

7. INTEGRITY OF THE DISCIPLINARY SYSTEM 86

Introduction 87

While most OECD Member and partner countries have clear regulations on disciplinary procedures for civil servants, they could be better... 87

Implementation of disciplinary procedures could benefit from improved training on disciplinary investigations and use of digital tools 90

8. INTEGRITY OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM 92

Introduction 93

The basic safeguards for judicial and prosecutorial integrity are in place in the majority of countries, but stronger procedures for the selection,... 93

Standards of conduct for judges and prosecutors exist but implementation could be improved, particularly for managing conflicts of interest 98

Whistleblowing mechanisms for reporting cases of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct are generally being implemented, but could be improved... 101

Focus chapters 104

9. FRAUD PREVENTION 106

Introduction 107

The funds lost to public sector fraud are substantial, and increasing 109

While governments have basic safeguards in place, most countries lack a strategic framework to address fraud 111

Investments in emerging technologies and AI are key to counter increasingly complex and transnational fraud schemes 114

While governments often rely on traditional enforcement methods, there is an increasing understanding that investing in fraud prevention... 118

Notes 119

10. INTEGRITY IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT 121

Introduction 122

Provisions and mechanisms to ensure the integrity of the public procurement system are well established in the related regulatory frameworks 124

Efforts to promote integrity among suppliers could be advanced 125

Developing targeted tools to address risks would contribute to strengthening integrity in public procurement 127

Harnessing digital technologies for proactive integrity risk management in public procurement offers considerable potential,... 128

Note 130

11. ORGANISED CRIME AND CORRUPTION 132

Introduction 133

Organised criminals are increasingly seeking to gain undue advantage by using corruption to infiltrate the legal economy and public services,... 133

Countries need coherent strategic frameworks and better cross-government and international co-operation to tackle the corruption and... 135

Countries could build resilience against organised crime by enhancing the integrity of public institutions 139

References 143

Country abbreviations 150

Table 1.1. Regional classification: Countries included in the analysis 24

Table 2.1. The use of outcome-level indicators, targets and evaluations could improve 37

Table 4.1. Countries tracking office holders' movement into sectors they formerly regulated 62

Table 5.1. Political parties in OECD Member and partner countries are not all meeting transparency and reporting requirements 70

Table 6.1. Countries' supervisory bodies may not be publicly reporting effectively, making inspections or issuing sanctions 83

Table 7.1. Statute of limitations for disciplinary cases 87

Table 8.1. Key strengths in regulations for judicial and prosecutorial integrity 94

Table 8.2. Standards of conduct for judges and prosecutors are in place but not all countries have established ethics advisory channels 98

Table 11.1. Alignment of OECD Member countries' anti-corruption and organised crime strategies 136

Boxes 18

Box 1.1. Possible causes of the implementation gap 18

Box 1.2. Enforcement of foreign bribery must be stepped up 19

Box 1.3. The OECD Public Integrity Indicators 25

Box 9.1. Examples of internal and external fraud schemes in the public sector 108

Box 9.2. Examples of financial losses to public sector fraud (external and internal) 110

Box 9.3. Advances in the use of emerging technologies and AI to fight fraud 117

Box 9.4. Advances in fraud loss measurement and fraud prevention savings 119

Box 10.1. Integrity Principle of the OECD Recommendation on Public Procurement 123

Box 10.2. Examples of how digital technologies are being used by OECD Member and partner countries to manage integrity risks in public procurement 129

Box 11.1. 2025 Finnish Strategy and Action Plan to Combat Organised Crime 138

Box 11.2. Countries are developing their work to build upstream resilience to organised crime 142

Infographics 9

Infographic 1. Key facts and figures 12