Corruption is a problem in Albania.[1][2]Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index scores 180 countries according to the perceived corruption of the public sector and then ranks those countries by their score, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. In 2024, Albania was ranked 80th among 180 countries in the Index, an improvement from its 98th place in the previous year.[3] Albania scored 42 points on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean").[4] For comparison with worldwide scores, the average score was 43, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), and the worst score was 8 (ranked 180).[5] For comparison with regional scores, the average score for Eastern Europe and Central Asia was 35.[6]
In recent years, Albania has made progress in its fight against corruption through the work of the Special Structure against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK). According to Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, SPAK has gained public trust by prosecuting high-level officials, including former ministers, members of Parliament, and mayors. Notably, investigations have also been launched against a former president and prime minister.[6]
Corruption and Human Development in Albania
After 1990, Albania has passed from a centralized economy to a liberal one. Liberalization has brought both mainly negative effects to the politics, economy and other social aspect. There are two main components that measure a country's progress toward success. Firstly, the economic growth is the most used and discussed indicator of the progress. During the last two decades the economists have been more interested in the economic development, consisting of the aggregate of health, education level and income rather than economic growth. Secondly, the corruption level is found to be a significant component of progress. Different researches have founded out a negative relationship between corruption level and countries’ progress. Empirical research of Hysa (2011) reveals that there is a statistically significant negative relationship between corruption indexes and human development. Empirical evidence of the study, comparing Albania with the EU member countries, suggests that more corrupted countries tend to have lower levels of human development. In the Albanian case, the relationship between corruption and human development is found to be much stronger than in the EU countries.[7]
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