Kuala lumpur: The 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) results announced last February brought a positive development for the country as Malaysia recorded an increased score of 52 points from 50 the previous year, thereby improving its position to 54th out of 180 countries assessed.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, although the two-point increase may appear modest, it is in fact a significant development in the context of a global index such as the CPI. This is because the CPI is developed based on a combination of several international studies that assess the perceptions of experts and the business community regarding the level of integrity of a country's public sector. Therefore, every increase in score reflects a rise in confidence in the country's governance system.
Malaysia's CPI score increase can also be seen more clearly when the data sources that form the index are examined in detail. The CPI is actually built from nine separate international studies that measure the perceptions of experts and the business community regarding the level of integrity of a country's public sector, before all of them are standardised and averaged to produce the final score. Of the nine sources, two surveys involving the international business community showed a notable increase for Malaysia.
In the 2025 CPI scoring table, the score from the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook Executive Opinion Survey increased from 38 to 50, representing a 12-point rise, while the score from the World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey rose from 50 to 64, an increase of 14 points. The significant increase in both surveys is highly meaningful because it reflects a change in perception among international business leaders and investors towards the integrity of public institutions in Malaysia.
In the context of the CPI, which is based on perception, changes such as this usually occur only when the business community sees the presence of consistent reform actions, more transparent policies and a clear commitment by the government to strengthen governance and combat corruption. This is also in line with the reform approach being implemented by the government through the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, as well as policy coordination under the CPI Task Force chaired by the Chief Secretary to the Government.
In other words, the increase in Malaysia's CPI score is not merely a change in statistical figures, but reflects rising confidence among investors and the business community in the integrity of the country's administrative system.