Corruption in Vietnam is pervasive and widespread, due to weak legal infrastructure, financial unpredictability, and conflicting and negative bureaucratic decision-making. Surveys from 2015 revealed that while petty corruption decreased slightly throughout the country, high-level corruption significantly increased as a means of abuse of political power in Vietnam. [1] Corruption is a very significant problem in Vietnam, impacting all aspects of administration, education and law enforcement.
Vietnam is an authoritarian one-party state under the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). In 2015, the party claimed that corruption had moved up the political agenda, and the legal framework for tackling corruption had become "better developed". However, political academics have cited that such efforts are likely a cover for a political purge between factions of the party. [1]
As of January 2018 Vietnam scored one of the highest rates of bribery practices – the rate citizens have paid a bribe to key public institutions over the past 12 months, at 65%, is second only to corruption in India with 69%. [2] In effect, as of 2012, corruption has been considered an obstacle for doing business in Vietnam, and the use of facilitation payments have been widespread when dealing with frontline civil servants at all levels of society. [3]
Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index, which scored 180 countries on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"), gave Vietnam a score of 41. When ranked by score, Vietnam ranked 83rd among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. [4] For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11 (ranked 180). [5] For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among the countries of the Asia Pacific region [Note 1] was 85, the average score was 45 and the lowest score was 17. [6]
Surveys from 2015 revealed that while petty corruption decreased slightly throughout the country, high-level corruption or systemic and political corruption significantly increased as a means of abuse of political power in Vietnam. [1] As of January 2018 Vietnam scored one of the highest rates of bribery practices – the rate citizens have paid a bribe to key public institutions over the past 12 months, at 65%, is second only to Corruption in India with 69%. [2]
Vietnam is a developing country of about 96 million people as of 2018. [7] As of 2012, corruption was considered an obstacle for doing business in Vietnam, and the use of facilitation payments have been widespread when dealing with frontline civil servants at all levels of society. [3]
Due to the international view of corruption in Vietnam, in 2020, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam stood at only US$28.5 billion, far below its ASEAN neighbours. [8]
In 2016, the ongoing "blazing furnace" (đốt lò) anti-corruption campaign was started by Nguyễn Phú Trọng, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. [9]
In 2021, the Vietnamese government claimed that it had taken stronger efforts to combat corruption. [10]
Nguyễn Tấn Dũng is a Vietnamese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Vietnam from 2006 to 2016. He was confirmed by the National Assembly on 27 June 2006, having been nominated by his predecessor, Phan Văn Khải, who retired from office. At a party congress held in January 2011, Nguyễn Tấn Dũng was ranked 3rd in the hierarchy of the Communist Party of Vietnam, after State President Trương Tấn Sang. Following the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyễn Tấn Dũng was not able to maintain his post in the party and stepped down from his position as Prime Minister on 7 April 2016.
Nguyễn Phú Trọng was a Vietnamese politician and communist theorist who served as general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam from 2011 until his death in 2024. As the head of the party's Secretariat, Politburo and Central Military Commission, Trọng was considered Vietnam's paramount leader. From 2018 to 2021, he also served concurrently as president of Vietnam.
The Philippines suffers from widespread corruption, which developed during the Spanish colonial period. According to GAN Integrity's Philippines Corruption Report updated May 2020, the Philippines suffers from many incidents of corruption and crime in many aspects of civic life and in various sectors. Such corruption risks are rampant throughout the state's judicial system, police service, public services, land administration, and natural resources.
Corruption in Colombia is a pervasive problem at all levels of government, as well as in the military and police forces. A general culture and awareness of this corruption permeates society as a whole.
Bahrain became a party with United Nations Convention against Corruption in 2010 after signing it in 2005.
Corruption in Bangladesh has been a continuing problem. According to all major ranking institutions, Bangladesh routinely finds itself among the most corrupt countries in the world.
Corruption in Turkey is an issue affecting the accession of Turkey to the European Union. Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index scores 180 countries according to their perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 to 100. Since the current scale was introduced in 2012, Turkey's score has fallen from its highest score of 50 (2013) to its lowest, current score of 34 (2023). When the 180 countries in the Index were ranked by their score, Turkey ranked 115 in 2023. For comparison with worldwide scores, the average score was 43, the best score was 90, and the worst score was 11. For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among Eastern European and Central Asian countries was 53, the average score was 35 and the lowest score was 18.
Corruption can take many forms, and can distort how public policy is made or implemented. This article discusses the responsibilities of the various agencies involved in combating corruption in Australia. Australia became a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Corruption in 2005. While Australia is a wealthy democracy, over the decade since 2012, Australia's ranking in the Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International has slipped from 7th place in 2012 to 14th in 2023, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. Additionally, there is a public perception that corruption in Australia is increasing. All states have broad-based anti-corruption agencies, and a national anti-corruption commission has been operational since July 2023.
Corruption in Sweden has been defined as "the abuse of power" by Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå). By receiving bribes, bribe takers abuse their position of power, which is consistent with how the National Anti-Corruption Unit of the Swedish Prosecution Authority specifies the term. Although bribes and improper rewards are central in the definition of corruption in Sweden, corruption in the sense of "abuse of power" can also manifest itself in other crimes such as misuse of office, embezzlement, fraud and breach of trust against a principal.
Corruption in Denmark is amongst the lowest in the world.
Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index scored Germany at 78 on a scale from 0 to 100. When ranked by score, Germany ranked 9th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90, the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11. For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among Western European and European Union countries was 90, the average score was 65 and the lowest score was 42.
Austria has a well-developed institutional and legal system, and most corruption cases under investigation by a parliamentary committee end with judicial trials and effective judgments. However, there are several significant Austrian corruption cases which have taken place during the past decade involving land and regional officials, high-level public officials, the central government and, in one instance, the former Chancellor.
Corruption in Slovakia is a serious and ongoing problem.
Corruption in South Korea is moderate compared to most countries in the Asia–Pacific and the broader international community. Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index scored South Korea at 63 on a scale between 0 and 100. When ranked by score, South Korea ranked 32nd among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90, the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11. For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among the countries of the Asia–Pacific region was 85, the average score was 45 and the lowest score was 17.
On Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index, Peru scored 33 on a scale from 0 to 100. When ranked by score, Peru ranked 121st among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90, the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11. For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among the countries of the Americas was 76, the average score was 43 and the lowest score was 13.
As of the early 2020s, Croatia has severe problems with systemic and political corruption. Among European Union member states, it is generally ranked as one of the five most corrupt states.
Tô Lâm is a Vietnamese politician and police officer who has served as general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) since August 2024 and president of Vietnam from May 2024 to October 2024. A career officer in the People's Public Security Forces for over 40 years, Lâm previously served as Minister of Public Security from 2016 until his election to the presidency in 2024.
Nguyễn Thanh Long is a Vietnamese politician and doctor who served as Minister of Health from July 2020 to his removal from the Communist Party of Vietnam in June 2022 for involvement in the Việt Á corruption scandal. During his term as Minister of Health, he was in acting capacity from July to November 2020. He has been noted for being one of the chief strategists of the response of the Vietnamese government to the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2024, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for taking bribes worth USD 2.25 million.
Võ Văn Thưởng is a Vietnamese politician who served as the 12th president of Vietnam from March 2023 to March 2024, being the youngest person to serve in this position since the country's reunification at the age of 52. His resignation after just over one year in office amidst the Communist Party's anti-corruption campaign made him the shortest-serving president in Vietnamese history.
The Việt Á scandal was a bribery and corruption scandal that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam. In 2020 and 2021, Việt Á Technology Corporation bribed Vietnamese government officials to sell COVID-19 RT-PCR tests, at a heavy mark-up to provincial health departments and hospitals.